The Third Year
by Sopphires
Summary: PLEASE READ THE FIRST TWO STORIES. THIS WON'T MAKE SENSE OTHERWISE! For a full summary read the author note at the end of 'The Second Year'. The Death Eaters are loose. The Minister has resigned. Fear is starting to grip the once stable wizarding world.
1. Forecasts

Forecasts

_**More Ministry Mishaps. Public Calls for New Minister and Law Enforcement Leaders. **_

_After the mass breakout of two days ago in which all Death Eaters escaped from their cells in Azkaban the cries of protest against the Minister's policies have increased tenfold. For the past two years the minister has been criticised for the increased amount of escapes from minimum security cells, however Finch-Fletchly has stood stoically by the "no dementors" policy, introduced by the "restoration of peace Minister", Kingsley Shacklebolt. _

"_It has already been proved, in most of our lifetimes, that dementors are _not_ to be trusted. They deserted us once and switched sides. Remember when they swooped over our towns and cities and sucked the happiness from the world? Who wants that kind of world to return? Who puts their trust into creatures that have _proven _that they cannot be trusted?"_

_When asked whether he still stood by his policy, now, after the escapes and whether he still stood by Potter and Weasley nee Granger he said; _

"_Both Harry and Hermione have proven themselves to be loyal, dedicated workers who want nothing more to protect the people, as they have done for much of their lives. I cannot think of two people who I would rather put my trust in. Both have some of the biggest experience in dealing with dark magic that can be found and I will _not_ turn my back on either of them."_

_Despite these strong words it does nothing to quash the rumours that Potter, and possibly Mrs Weasley, will not be returning to the same jobs when September comes and that Potter and his in-law family are a danger to those around them. It is no secret that many of the escaped convicts are seeking revenge against those that placed them there and those at the top of the list are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley._

_A vocal speaker against Minister Finch-Fletchly, is Ernest Procurater, father of three and deeply concerned for their safety. _

"_Finch-Fletchley is misguided by his friendship with Potter and Weasley. He is therefore unable to see that they have all failed in their duties to protect the people of this country. In fact I would go as far as to say that he is compromised by his relationship with them and is incapable of making decisions that go against what they want. This means that he is failing in his duty as Minister for a Minister of Magic should be able to make, correct, independent, decisions without fear of what his colleagues might say. That is why I, for one, am calling for his resignation as Minister and a replacement that knows what is best for the people and will give it."_

_Procurater is not alone and there is a large group of followers gathering behind him. Many people are calling for him to be the next Minister and he is certainly not shying away from the possibility. When asked he simply said;_

"_If I was voted in by the people than I would not hesitate to deliver swift and decisive action. For one I would reinstate the dementors at Azkaban. I am no fool, I know they cannot be trusted so I will not leave them there _alone_. The guards already there will remain, except for those that were on duty when the break out happened of course. They shall be fired immediately. Secondly I believe that both Potter and Mrs Weasley have been in their posts too long unchallenged. They are both war heroes and I respect everything that they have done for us but just because they are successful at war does _not_ mean that they are the same in peace time. We need to make sure that they are competent and right for their jobs as it does not bode well to have incompetent employees in such high positions." _

_There are also rumours that security at Hogwarts has been tightened to a degree similar to as when You Know Who was at large. Also the hunt for the missing convicts is underway and it is _not_ being led by Potter but by old timer Shacklebolt. When asked about this curious decision Finch-Fletchly stated_

"_It was Kingsley's idea and I whole-heartedly agreed with it. He has been in the Order of the Phoenix and successfully evaded capture by the Death Eaters. Also, when the war ended, he was the leader of the task force that caught them all. If anyone knows how to catch them it's him." _

_Another point that Finch-Fletchly and Procurater disagree on is the Ministry's role at Hogwarts. Finch-Fletchly believes the Ministry should simply protect the students and make sure nothing untoward happens whereas Procurater believes that the Ministry should take an active role in the children's education. _

"_When I was at school the ministry interfered and the consequences were not pleasant. I have great faith in Professor McGonagall and the board of governors to make the right decisions for the pupils, that is their job. My own children go there and I am very happy with the education that they are getting."On whether or not he was concerned about his children's safety as his eldest is in the same year as two Weasley children and his youngest is in the same year as a Potter, Weasley _and _the young Malfoy who, rumour has it, is in _even more_ danger than the Potter-Weasleys. Also Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy and their muggle-born friend Catalina Hautly have been in situations of peril two years in a row and seemed to have picked up a personal enemy, he simply remarked that;_

"_I believe the new defences that we have around the school should be more than enough to keep Death Eaters _and_ Hardingly out of the school."_

_Procurater is not at all as satisfied by the state of things at Hogwarts making the following statement;_

"_It is the sign of failing school when one decides not to send their children there. My eldest should be heading to Hogwarts this year but I have decided, for their own good, that they would be safer away from the castle. Also serious questions must be asked when staff allow murderers onto school property and _openly_ discriminate against their pupils." _

_All being said and done, this reporter thinks that a climatic decision will be reached before the start of the new school year at Hogwarts. It looks like an exciting couple of weeks and-_

Al threw down the paper in disgust. His face was twisted into the kind of expression he would make when he found bits of onion in his food that were more than a centimetre long. Reaching up he ruffled his already abnormally messy hair up. Caly was leaning on the back of his chair, having been reading the paper over his shoulder, and James had his elbows on the table as his eyes scanned the bottom of the article.

"This is bull." said James, moving back to his place.

"Language, James." scolded Ginny. James looked up, frowning at his mother, disdain on his face.

"Mum 'bull' is _not_ a swear word, besides Caly and Al are hardly _innocent_." Caly and Al both shared confused looks, wondering just what the hell James was talking about, whilst Ginny rolled her eyes at her teenage son.

"I was teenager once too you know," she said whilst brandishing her spoon at him whilst James rolled his eyes back at her. "I know what 'bull' is short for."

"Then you should be thankful I didn't say the whole word."

"Anyway." Al loudly interrupted his mum and brother's staring match. "Is this stuff true?" he indicated to the cover of _The Prophet_ where Justin Finch-Fletchly ducked away from the cameras, his arms around Peter and Sam as he hurried them out of the path of the paparazzi. Ginny looked between her two sons and her - there was no other word for what Caly was - adopted daughter and grimaced. There was no way that the three of them would let go of this and if they didn't get information Rose and Scorpius would be working for it and they were likely to get it.

"Yes, most of it." Caly had retaken her seat, opposite James, and had folded her hands together. She rested her chin on them and stared at Ginny, a frown on her face.

"I don't understand." she began. "Peter's dad, the Minister, he's doing what people want, right?" Ginny nodded. "People don't want these…dementors, so why are they throwing him out of office because he won't bring them back? That doesn't make any sense." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"That's sort of the point. People, as you probably know, are fickle." Caly raised her eyes upwards in thought.

"Not really, in my experience people become stuck so far into a certain mind-set that they cannot look beyond that." there was a silence in which the three Potters at the table just exchanged looks and moved on.

"The point is that quite a lot of this information is true."

"People really want Peter's dad to go?" Ginny nodded but James got the response in first.

"It's called life, dumbass." Caly raised her eyebrow at Al who simply rolled his eye, being far to placid to rise to the bait. James had been in a particularly foul mood all summer. He moped around the house, mainly in his bedroom, and rarely said a kind word to anyone. When Lily had received her Hogwarts letter she had nearly screamed the house down and James, instead of congratulating her, had said

'What did you expect? A letter to Broadmoor?'- how James even knew what that was Caly had no idea because Uncle Harry only had a vague idea - 'Better start prepping for your new life in Slytherinn' before storming back to his room. This had left Lily in near tears as Harry and Caly, awkwardly, explained what Broadmoor was.

"James!" James rolled his eyes at his mum.

"What? It's _obvious_ that Mr Finch-Fletchly is going to lose his job! Then dad and Aunt Hermione will probably loose theirs too! Enjoy and have your fun with all the suffering!" James then stormed out of the room. Ginny frowned after him but Al turned to Caly.

"He's not _still_ mad about that." Caly rolled her eyes, a small frown creasing the middle of her forehead.

"Amongst other things, yeah." Al frowned.

"I don't get it, we didn't do _anything _wrong." Caly just shrugged and stared back at the paper.

"So who is the _Procurator_, guy?"

"It's Procurat_er_." corrected Ginny. "And nobody really knows."

"What do you mean?" Al had folded his hands in front of his face and was staring at his mum intently.

"Well he doesn't seem to appear until a couple of years ago."

"But he said his kid was the same age as Lily."

"I know but still, he just appears out of nowhere. He never went to Hogwarts, though going by his apparent age that's not too unusual.

"How old is he?"

"Three years younger than me. He would have been in first year when I went into fourth." Al frowned, trying to think back to why he might not have gone.

"That's when people thought dad and Professor Dumbledore were crazy, isn't it?"

"Yes." said Ginny nodding. "It is and nobody wants to send their child to a school run by a 'crazy' Headmaster."

"What about the mother of the children?"

"Unknown." Caly and Al exchanged surprised looks.

"What and people _don't _think that's suspicious?" Ginny looked at the two of them and sighed.

"Probably but people are frightened and Procurater is giving them what they want, they don't really care about much more."

"But you don't want him in power, do you mum?"

"No Al." she said, shaking her head. "No I don't and neither does the rest of the family." Caly frowned.

"Because Peter's dad is your friend?"

"No." said Ginny shaking her head. "Well partially, but it's mainly because I don't agree with Procurater's ideas. The dementors and interfering with Hogwarts." she shook her head. "I've seen it all before and it wasn't good."

"But it ended well." the three occupants of the kitchen jumped as Harry Potter entered behind them.

Harry looked far more tired since the last time Caly had seen him. His face was scratched and pale. His glasses where hanging slightly crooked and his hair was a mess. His eyelids seemed to droop as he stumbled into the kitchen. Kreacher followed him carrying his bag and Harry collapsed down into a chair. "Thanks Kreacher." he said in a weary voice.

"It is nothing, master Harry."

"Get some rest Kreacher, you're getting too old for this kind of work."

"As you wish master." Kreacher bowed and disappeared. Harry shook his head and ran a hand over his face.

"Dad you okay?" asked Al in concern. Harry smiled at his son.

"Tired." was his reply. "Haven't slept in days." Caly tilted her head to the side.

"Why?" Harry shrugged.

"Not had the time. I'm doing my best to help Kingsley out and-" he ran a hand across his face. "-it's only a matter of time before people start dying." Caly and Al exchanged looks of sadness and concern.

"But dad you'll find them, you did last time." Harry smiled at his son's confidence in him.

"Yes we will."

"That's what I don't understand." said Caly as she swallowed the rest of her glass of her milk. "Why isn't there more information on the Death Eaters? They're so dangerous but, accept for the one that reported their escape, there hasn't been any information _on _them. I don't understand the logic of that." Harry snorted.

"There is no logic. It's _The Prophet_ messing things up again, sorry dear." Ginny shrugged.

"I have very little respect for the rest of my colleagues there. Anyone willing to let Skeeter work for them has no sense." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier. Glancing at the paper he shook his head.

"Poor boys." he said. "What are they like?"

"Don't know Sam." said Al. "But we get along well with Peter." Harry nodded.

"Well I hope they're doing okay."

"Daddy! Daddy!" Lily came running down the stairs and threw herself onto her father, her long her streaming behind her. Harry let out an 'oof' as Lily impacted with him but held her tightly and rested his head on top of hers. "Are we going to Diagon Alley today, daddy?" Ginny opened her mouth to reject the idea but Harry shook his head.

"Give me an hour or two and then we'll go meet up with your cousins. We're taking Rose and Hugo, Ron and Hermione can't make it, and Billy and Dudley are coming too." Lily let out a squeal of joy and dashed off. Ginny sent him a disapproving look.

"Really? You're exhausted and you want to go shopping with Lily." Harry shrugged.

"I can't keep putting it off." he said wearily. "I'll go get a shower and lie down for a bit, can you tell the family our plans." Ginny still looked disapproving but moved off to floo call them. Al and Caly, taking their cue to exit, stacked their dishes in the sink and walked back to Al's room.

* * *

"I don't understand your strategy." said Caly from her position that was on her back on the floor. Al sighed and laid down back on his bed. He picked up his broom and used the end to point out the movements of the players again as she turned over. "Nope." she said, dropping her head onto the floor. "I don't understand what you can gain from dropping the ball into your opponent's hands." Al sighed.

"It's like sacrificing a piece in chess." he said complacently. "It's like losing your bishop to save your king." Caly tipped her head.

"I still don't fully understand but alright. How do you then get it back?"

"Easy, your beaters fly either side of them and whack a bludger at them they drop it and your third chaser is underneath them to catch it."

"And that achieves what, exactly?"

"Their players will be near our goal which leaves ours unmarked. Then it's just one on one with the goalie." Caly shook her head.

"There's too much up for chance in that. Besides, why are you doing this? You're not Captain?" Al rolled his eyes and nearly buried his head in his blankets.

"I'm not _this_ year but its Maise's last year so the Captain's position is up for grabs next year and I want to get a head start." Caly nodded in understanding.

"I see."

"AL! CALY! We're going to Diagon Alley _now!"_

"YES MUM!" Al yelled back and he pulled a cover over his board, getting to his feet. Scooping up Phineas he put him back in his cage along with small cracker. Al and Caly grabbed their jackets from where they lay and threw them on as they exited Al's room.

"Al!"

"What now?"

"Go drag your brother out from wherever he's secreted himself!" Al rolled his eyes and knocked on James' door. Sticking his head he rolled his eyes.

"Empty, he must be in the attic. I'll go up and get him." Caly nodded and ran down the stairs and nearly crashed into Billy Dursley.

"Oh, hey Billy!" he looked up and practically beamed at her.

"Hey Caly!" Caly could practically feel the excitement emanating from him at the thought of going to get his books and his wand.

"Is Rose here?" she asked as Billy bounced off towards the kitchen where Lily, Harry, Ginny and Dudley were.

"No, her and Hugo are meeting us in the Leaky Cauldron." she greeted Dudley with a nod and a wave and grinned as Lily and Billy practically buzzed as they attempted to stand still. Al came thundering down into the kitchen, tripping over the bottom step he almost collided with the table before righting himself. He grinned brightly at all the rolled eyes and straightened his glasses. James came down last, his hands stuffed into the pockets of a leather jacket that looked faded and old. He had an incredibly surly look on his face and he scowled as his mum went through the process of flooing. He went first, not saying a word to anyone but when Lily went for a handful the powder solidified underneath her fingers. Harry sighed, knowing this to be an experimental Weasley product, and fixed his daughter's hand. Finding the real powder Ginny went first, presumably to have some time to shout at James, closely followed by Al, Caly, Billy, Dudley and, lastly, Harry.

The Leaky Cauldron was as lively as ever when Caly came spinning out of the fireplace and was caught by Al. Caly still hadn't got the hang of flooing and Al always made sure he went through first so that he could make sure that Caly didn't fall when she got out the other end. Rose and Hugo were sitting with Ally, Frank and their little twin siblings; Howard and Matilda, at a table near the bar playing a game of gobstones.

"Hey there." Harry walked over and put a hand on either of their backs. "You alright?" Rose and Hugo both nodded and Rose ran over to the two of them.

"You okay?" asked Al quietly as they began to move through the pub to the courtyard outside.

"Haven't seen dad in _days_ and mum goes out before we wake up and comes back in when we're in bed. Grandma always drops by to take us to theirs and it's cool but..." she shrugged, looking stressed. "Have you seen Scor lately?" she asked as they stepped through the archway and Lily looked like she might burst with excitement. As the two of them shook their heads their conversation was interrupted by James.

"Andromeda doesn't want to let him out of her sight. She's worried about him. She thinks that he'll be killed like Teddy's parents, especially as his dad's killer, Dolohov, escaped." The three friends blinked up at him in shock.

"How do you know this?" demanded Al. James shrugged.

"Teddy told me." this seemed to baffle Rose and Al even more than his original statement.

"You guys are talking again, then?" at Rose's question James gave them all the most genuine smile that they'd seen since the end of last year.

"Yeah, we've been writing all summer."

"Oh and here was me thinking that you'd finally got a long term girlfriend." James glared at Al.

"Scorpius has been a terrible influence on you." he said, shaking his head.

"Kids!" they looked up to see Harry staring at all of them. "Try to stick close, okay. We want to get this done quickly." they hurried to catch up with the adults and soon-to-be first years. James reverted to his old posture as they entered Flurish and Blotts and Rose nearly fainted when she saw a new, leather bound, copy of _The Many Hallowed Halls_, a book about Hogwarts told from the perspective of the portraits.

It took a long time to get out of Flurish and Blotts, they'd nearly had to tear Rose away from the books on Ancient Runes, she was starting that subject this year, and Hugo and Billy had found a book on hexes and curses that they'd tried to smuggle into the pile. It also didn't help that Harry was getting some mixed receptions from the crowd. Many people were displeased to see their Head Auror out shopping when there were Death Eaters on the loose and one woman actually began to throw books at him. She escorted off the premises by a security guard who, it turned out, had used to work at Azkabahn. He helped get all their things rushed through and suddenly they were back out on the street.

Ollivanders was the shop that Lily kept begging Harry to take her to but Harry wouldn't budge, per usual they would go to Ollivanders last, it was tradition. It was hard to get through the robe fittings because Caly, who hadn't grown more than half an inch, was forced to sit and watch whilst James was uncooperative, Hugo and Billy threw pins at each other, Al fell of his stool and Lily fidgeted and bounced up and down. It was probably the first time that Mia Boot, a close friend of Vic's, had been glad to see the back of them as she ushered them out of the shop because they'd certainly caused a ruckus. It also became apparent that Al was developing some sort of inner ear problem with the amount of times he'd tripped and fallen over as they walked along.

Things turned ugly as they were making their way to Ollivanders at the end of the street. They were laden down with packages containing everything seven students would need for their upcoming year at Hogwarts and Caly was feeling incredibly exhausted. She didn't understand how people could shop as a hobby. She got the impression that Al, in contrast to her and Rose, quite in enjoyed going in and out of shops and he kept stopping at random intervals to inspect window displays. He did this so often that James was practically dragging him along by the scruff of his collar just so that they wouldn't get lost or separated. Rose was entertaining, or boring, Hugo, Lily and Billy with stories about how amazing the lessons were at Hogwarts and how great the homework was and how it was such a satisfying feeling when you got a top grade back. Caly could tell, by the looks on their faces, that this wasn't going to be the kind of life they were leading. Hogwarts, it seemed, was destined for three more troublemakers.

"Traitor!" Caly wasn't sure what went flying at Uncle Harry across the street but whatever it was it was breakable and sharp. Bits of what seemed to be glass rained down on the family and Caly as it smashed against a shop wall. Several people screamed and immediately began to run for cover. On the other side of the street she could just see a woman, holding more projectiles, staring at Harry with an immeasurable fury in her eyes. Her eyes were wild and her expression was feral; her teeth were barred and she seemed to be snarling at him. Her shoulders were hunched over and she seemed unaware of the panic that she was causing. "Traitor!" another missile flew at Harry. It missed, again, but this time it shattered a window and more glass came pouring onto them. Rose let out a scream and she dropped what she was holding and scooped Hugo into her arms, shielding him. Dudley grabbed Billy and held him tightly against him, also trying to shield his body from harm. Ginny forced Lily down onto the ground and Al and James both grabbed onto Caly, Al had her wrist and James had caught hold of her shoulder. All the packages and parcels tumbled to the floor and people continued to scream and run for cover. Harry had drawn his wand and he looked dangerous. He walked across to the woman on the other side but the crowd between them was causing him some difficulty. Many were forming a sort of barrier around her and he seemed unwilling to use any kind of offensive magic to get to her.

As Harry engaged in this moral battle with a crowd of angry citizens, Ginny shuffled across with Lily to where Dudley was holding Billy. Rose and Hugo edged over too and Al was beginning to move over too, careful of more projectiles. He was leading Caly and James had his wand out, even though he wasn't allowed to use magic. Their path was stopped, however, by the shrill piercing cry of a lost child reached their ears.

The little boy couldn't have been much more than five years old. He was standing in the middle of the street. There were little rivulets of blood on his face from where he'd been cut. He had snot dripping from his nose and the tears ran faster than his blood. His whole body shook as he opened his mouth again to scream. Al let go of Caly in a flash. He darted through the crowd of people to where the little boy stood. James released her shoulder and grabbed her hand instead, pulling her after Al.

Al had his hands on the little boy's shoulders. He was rubbing his arms but the boy didn't seem to be calming.

"Hey kid." said James, ruffling his dark blonde hair. "Let's get you out of the crowd." he deftly lifted up the screaming boy and carried him down a side alley. He seemed a little calmer now and he stared wide eyed up at him. James stuffed his hand his pocket and drew out a chocolate frog he handed it to the boy. He took it cautiously and ripped the packaging in a swift movement. He bit the head off and swallowed.

"Thank you."

"That's fine." said Caly, sitting cross legged in front of him. "What's your name?"

"Allen Parris."

"Well, Allen, I think it's safer for you to just sit here until the crowd dies down. Did you get separated from your mum?" he nodded. "That's fine. We'll help you find her the moment it gets safe out there."

"Thank you." he whispered and Caly handed him a tissue to dry his eyes and then they tried their best to clean up his wounds.

"Caly." said James suddenly, from where he stood over her. "You're bleeding."

"What?"

"Your head, it's bleeding." Al stood up and peered into her head.

"Here." he said taking another tissue he began to dab at the wound on her head. "I don't think it's that bad. Surprised you didn't feel it though." Caly shrugged.

"Must have grown a very high pain tolerance." James gave her a funny look.

"You really shouldn't say that so casually, it's worrying." Caly shrugged.

"I'm used to getting knocked about, James, this isn't really the best time to start getting over protective." James glared at her and Al raised his eyebrows but Caly just shrugged it away, but not before giving James a pointed, knowing, look. Allen swallowed the last of the frog before speaking.

"You're the Potters." He said, eyes wide. Caly snorted slightly because he was actually staring right at her.

"Well they are-" she gestured to the boys either side of her. "-but I'm not." He nodded and sat down on the ground.

"What was happening? Do you think mummy will be alright?" Caly smiled at him and nodded.

"I don't really know what was happening but I'm sure your mummy will be fine and that she's probably looking for you right now."

"Shouldn't I go out there?"

"No." she said, decisively. "If you do you're likely to get hurt again and we don't want that happening."

* * *

"What's going on?" whispered Al to James from where they'd moved to the end of the alley to try and gauge the situation.

"I don't know." said James, shaking his head. "I'm going out there."

_"James."_

"I have to make sure mum and

Lily are okay."

"Mum can take care of herself.""What about Uncle Dudley? And Billy?" Al sighed.

"I can't let you." he said. "I can't James." James shook his head once before clapping his arm.

"I'll be fine." he dashed into the crowd before Al could stop.

"Stop you hypocritical idiot!" screamed Al to the crowd. "You…" Al couldn't think of an insult strong enough so he just let out an angry huff. He looked between Caly, who was talking Allen and seemed unaware of him, and the crowd. "Oh I'm gonna regret this." he muttered before plunging into the crowd, trying to follow James.

It was chaos. People were fighting each other and the once peaceful shopping street had turned into a riot zone. Owners were allowing children and mothers to flee inside before locking their doors and charming their windows. There weren't actually many spells being thrown, instead people were preferring to engage in a muggle style of conflict.

"James!" called Al as he pushed his way between people. "James!" suddenly he saw a head of brown hair being decked to the ground. Rushing over he saw that it was indeed his brother, with a split lip, lying on the ground groaning. The man that stood over him was at least twice his size and Al felt a rush of uncontrollable anger surge through him. So this was what it must have felt like when his mum yelled at James and Caly and Scor had screamed at each other. His blood was on fire and he was seething. Letting out a battle cry he flew at the man. He smashed his fist into his face and James, from where he lay on the floor, gaped up at him in shock. Al's small stature had given him the element of surprise against his opponent. The man was just getting over the shock of being attacked by a small, skinny, thirteen year old in the time that Al had broken his nose and kicked him right between the legs. The man let out a high pitched squeal and fell to the ground. Al reached down and pulled James up. James blinked at him in shock.

"Did you just lose your temper?" he asked. "Like actually, properly?" Al rubbed his hands together.

"Yeah, I think I just did."

"Wow." said James, his eyes wide. "I have got to work harder to get that reaction out of you."

"Not now." said Al, dragging him away from the man who was getting back to his feet. They dodged through the crowd looking for their family.

"Wait a second, Al." Al came to a halt and then pulled James down so that he didn't get hit in the head by a misplaced fist.

"This isn't a good place for a chat James, especially not with someone like you."

"You left Caly on her own!" yelled James, completely disregarding what Al had just said.

"Yeah, so what? She can take care of herself!" Al pulled James once more out of harm's way, not quite sure why James was yelling at him.

"She's tiny!"

"James she's stronger than you! Or have you forgotten that!" James, however, could hear the buzzing in his ears that he normally got when his mum yelled at him.

"You left her on her own with a _five year old_! What kind of idiot are you?"

"What kind of idiot are _you_?" Al shot right back, his voice raised so that he could be heard. "You ran off into the crowd with no way of protecting yourself. You can't use magic and you're pathetic in a physical fight! What kind of idiot does that?"

"Rubbish in a fight am I?" demanded James. He threw a punch at Al and Al easily caught his fist and pulled it round behind his back so that he let out a small cry of pain. Grabbing his other shoulder he pulled James close so that he could talk without yelling.

"Stop being stupid!" he hissed into James' left ear. "We are in the middle of a _riot_! Focus!" Al let go of James and James straightened his jacket. His glare lessened slightly as Al offered him a tissue to dab at his lip. "Let's go!" he said, pushing James forward he guided his brother through the crowd so that they didn't get hurt.

* * *

"I think they must have gone into a shop!" shouted Al. They were near the edge now and they could hear bangs as the Ministry cavalry arrived.

"Well duh." said James. "I reckon we should try and get back to Allen and Caly." Al nodded.

"Mum's gonna kill us when she realises we went out in this."

"You're the one who ran off to the little boy."

"He was screaming his head off," protested Al, "I couldn't just leave him there crying. Have a heart James!"

"Did I not pick him up and give him my last chocolate frog? I think I've got quite a large heart, actually." Al smirked, secretly enjoying this version of his brother as opposed to the moody one that he'd endured for most of the summer.

"Hey look!" they froze in their tracks. They'd been about to re-enter the crowd when one of the people that crowded round the woman that had started it all, pointed at them.

"It's the children!" cried a woman nearby.

"Let 'em go." said someone else. "They're just kids, they ain't done anything."

"They're the reason my kids can't go to Hogwarts. They're endangering all the children there." There were murmurs of ascent from round the crowd. James drew his wand quickly and Al copied him.

"I think the Ministry might just let us off for doing magic out of school if they found out that a group of adults, including several employees, were threatening them." Al looked at him, wondering what on earth was going through his brain. He did, however, notice who he was talking about. There were two men standing near the forefront of the crowd that was focused on them that Al recognised from dinners at the Ministry and there were several women who he knew were Aunt Audrey's friends.

"But what if they don't know?" it was mark of their Gryffindor spirit's that they didn't flinch at the worse.

"Sorry mate," said James, still irritatingly casual, "but I've faced far worse than a middle aged man with a bald patch and a beer belly." Al shot James a confused look and James just grinned, completely cocky, back at him.

"You think that 'cause you've got a big shot daddy you can talk to us how you want? You think that we're the scum on the bottom of your shoe but listen to me, laddy, I work long and hard so that you can strut arrogantly around these streets like you own 'em." James shrugged.

"I don't do that 'cause of dad, I do that because I was born with a natural ability of wit, charm, good looks and desirability." Al, in front of mob that was being broken up by Ministry officials as they spoke, smacked his face into his palm. The man flicked his wand and theirs were gone, flying several metres behind them. James immediately jumped in front of Al, shielding him from harm. "Don't you dare touch my brother," he hissed. "I may have been causing you annoyance but you lay one finger on my baby brother and you will live to regret it." They never discovered exactly what the balding man thought of that because he crumpled before them. He'd had his mouth open, ready to respond, when there was a loud thud and his eyes rolled upward and he fell forwards onto his face. The surrounding crowd winced and everyone looked at the man that had been behind him.

_"Uncle Dudley?"_ exclaimed Al and James in shocked unison. Dudley seemed to examine his knuckles for a second before smiling at his nephews.

"Come on."

"One sec." Al dashed off, down to where their wands lay on the ground. Scooping them up, he dashed back. He handed James his and they hurried after their uncle, who people were giving a wide berth. The main crowd had been dispersed by the Ministry officials who were now tending to the injured. Running over James and Al saw that his family had been hidden in small shop selling patterned tea cosies. Lily looked shaken and Rose was white, her arm clamping tightly around Hugo who looked remarkably calm. Billy was standing up, peering into the crowd and he beamed at the three of them. Running over he bounced up into his dad's arms.

"You haven't lost it then dad?" he asked and Dudley grinned at his son, ruffling his hair.

"Nope, it seems I've still got it in me."

"Sorry, got what in you?" James was looking up at his Uncle with a mixture of confusion and admiration.

"I was boxing champion in my youth," he said with a reminiscent smile. "I've being teaching Billy here and I help coaching on a Friday nights and Saturdays but I haven't been in a ring in years." James nodded in understanding but Al looked confusing.

"How would you fit into a ring?" he demanded. James laughed and slung an arm around his little brother's shoulders.

"You'll learn it all in Muggle Studies, youngling."

"Muggle Studies." said Al, slightly confused. "Is that where all those weird references have been coming from?" James nodded.

"Muggles are great Al, they think of the wackiest things ever. They're actually really inspirational. They've being giving me a lot of ideas for new pranks to play." Al groaned, and rubbed his forehead as Rose got to her feet and threw her arms around him.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded as James rubbed Lily's back as she trembled slightly.

"Sorry Rosie but there was this little kid in the middle of the street and he was bleeding and crying and…" Al shrugged, hoping Rose would understand that he'd needed to help him. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Is that where Caly is?"

"Yes." he said, looking round. "She must not be out yet, we left them in the alley." At that precise moment they heard a woman yelling over the buzz of activity.

"ALLEN! ALLEN! Allen, honey, where are you?" James and Al made eye contact and immediately dashed over to her.

"'Scuse me." said Al, walking right up to her. "But are you Mrs Parris?"

"It's miss, but yes, yes I am." She was staring down at them in confusion. "Why?"

"We know where your son is." explained Al. She nearly sagged with relief.

"You do?"

"Yes." said James with a nod. "We saw him in the street so we took him into an alley, he's with our friend now." They led her over to the alley and saw Allen and Caly sitting cross legged, opposite each other. Caly was talking very fast and Allen was hanging onto her every word. Al and James shared a small smile at the sight. They were both fine; what a relief.

"Allen!" Allen looked up at the cry of his mother and he leapt to his feet. Running down the alley he flung himself into her arms. She scooped him up and held him to her chest. "Oh love, you're safe, you're not hurt. Thank Merlin." Caly hurried up to Al and James and hugged them both.

"What were you two playing at?" she demanded in a whisper. "One moment you were there, then you were gone. I thought you'd been kidnapped! I was scared out of my wits!"

"Blame him." said James, pointing at Al. "I intended him to stay behind."

"But if I had, you'd be a pulp of bloody flesh so really you ought to thank me." They didn't get any further with their bickering because Miss Parris had swooped down on the three of them and was hugging and kissing them.

"Oh thank you. Oh you're all so brave. Thank you. Thank you!" Caly gave her small smile and Al just swung his arm around James' shoulder.

"We didn't do what any half decent person wouldn't have done." James threw his arm off and they hurried out of the alley in high spirits. Miss Parris pulled Allen, who was waving goodbye at them, over to one of the Ministry mediwizards to have him checked over and James said

"You should get your head looked at."

"I'm fine," she began to protest but Al caught hold of her wrist and began to march her off to a wizard who was treating someone with black hair.

"Dad!" Al would have thrown his arms around him had he not been quite so bloody. The three teenagers winced as they looked at him.

"Jesus, dad, what happened?"

"I got on the wrong side of a mob, same as you I think?" Harry nodded to his son's split lip and James touched it self-consciously.

"Yeah, well, we were worried about Uncle Dudley and Billy, turns out we needn't have bothered."

"Why?" asked Harry as he winced as the wizard touched his pulverised flesh.

"Turns out he's an ex-boxing champ and that he teaches it in his spare time."

"Oh yeah." Harry had a similar expression of reminiscence that Dudley had worn earlier. "Yeah I remember when he got into that."

"Take a seat Mr Potter." James ignored the wizard until Harry coughed.

"James."

"What?" he looked round at all the people staring expectantly at him. "Oh _I'm_ Mr Potter."

"Unless you've changed your surname." muttered Harry under his breath, causing both Al and Caly to laugh.

"And now you, miss." Caly sat down and let the man fix her head wound. "Well you should all be fine, take it easy though Mr Potter, sir."

"I'll try Aaron but you know me." Aaron shook his head.

"Too well." He muttered as he moved off.

"BOYS! CALY!" James and Al winced simultaneously as Ginny came running over, the rest of the family in tow. "What _were_ you _thinking_? James, you're the older brother! You're supposed to look after your younger siblings!"

"Mum," said Al but Ginny was in full flow.

"And Caly," Caly jumped slightly when she was turned on, "you're supposed to be clever and logical! Why would you run off?" Caly glanced awkwardly at Al who was still trying to get a word in edgeways.

"Ginny!" said Harry, interrupting her rant. "Ginny, I think Al is trying to tell you something." Ginny turned her blazing eyes on her middle child. Al rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, mum, you see, it was me that ran off." Ginny gaped at her sensible child.

"You?"

"Yeah, well, you see, there was this kid crying in the middle of the street and he was bleeding and I just, sort of, ran over to him and Caly and James followed me." Ginny looked at him, still very taken aback. "We just took him into an alley so that he wouldn't be in danger. Then James wanted to make sure you guys were safe so he ran back out and, let's be honest, James isn't the best when it comes to physical stuff so I ran after him. Then we got cornered by a load of people and they disarmed us and then Uncle Dudley punched the ringleader so we were okay."

"Oh Al." she said, her face softening. "That was such a kind thing to do." She gathered him in her arms and held him tightly. "Oh all of you, at least you didn't leave him alone." She hugged James and Caly, as well, and then released them in near tears. Harry gathered her up and muttered a thank you to Dudley who waved it away.

* * *

They were driven back in Ministry cars after getting Lily's, Hugo's and Billy's wands in a subdued silence. The Ministry had helped to find, and replace, their things and carry them through the Leaky Cauldron. Neville, who had stopped the pub getting trashed, had a hurried conversation with Harry. He had also hugged Lily tightly and Frank and Ally came over to have a quick chat to them. They inquired after their health and told them that they'd had some trouble by some people throwing bottles at their dad and the twins. They were fine but people were getting angry with them. People didn't like them sitting around whilst there was a threat out there. It seemed that, because they were old war heroes, they should throw themselves in danger instead of anybody else. They shouldn't have any qualms about sacrificing themselves even if they had families.

Teddy was sitting in the kitchen, having an incredibly polite conversation with Kreacher, when they got back. He leapt to his feet and hurried over.

"Are you alright?" he demanded. "Scor wanted to come but Grandma is freaking out of her mind. She's terrified for him, and me. She doesn't want me to be working but I'm not doing anything dangerous." Harry frowned at him.

"You're one of our best trainees," he said, confused. "Kingsley must be mad not to take you." Teddy shook his head.

"He reckons I've got a conflict of interest. He wants it all to stay professional, no vendettas. Though how he can't be conflicted is beyond me." Harry patted Teddy on the shoulder as he sat down at the table.

"Kingsley is old and professional. You're not. Besides, I think that he wants to keep your safe. He's just making it look professional." Teddy ran a hand through his hair.

"This is getting ridiculous," he muttered.

"Why?" asked Al, he'd sunk into one of the chairs nearby and Teddy blinked up at the four older children that were still standing there.

"Because the Death Eaters haven't done anything yet and we're already tearing each other apart. We're going to be fodder." James nodded, a frown on his face.

"So is there anything that you can do?" Teddy shook his head, sneaking a glance at Harry as he nursed his shoulder.

"Not a thing," said Harry with a grimace. "We'll just have to see whether Justin can hang on in there or whether he gets forced out."

"So can you just oust your Minister at any time?" asked Dudley, an interested look on his face.

"If there's enough of an outcry, same as in the muggle world. Except we re-elect the new one. There are no political parties." Dudley nodded and Harry ran a hand over his face. "Oh I'm getting too old for this."

"You're not forty." pointed Teddy. He ignored the glare that he was given by his godfather and James, Al, Rose and Caly all smirked.

* * *

"_**Minister Gone**_

_Minister for Magic Justin Finch-Fletchly yesterday resigned from office after the riot in Diagon Alley. This riot, said to have been sparked by Potter's presence in the street, resulted in a several serious injuries and showed the serious displeasures felt by the general community. _

_Finch-Fletchly has reportedly 'washed his hands' of what happens next as he stands by his policies. Procurater, who won in the emergency poll, has already reinstated the dementors at Azkaban and has, apparently, called meetings with the Governors of Hogwarts and the Head Mistress. He is tackling the problems that the public are concerned with and he has received a warm welcome. _

_Kingsley Shacklebolt has been unavailable for comment but it was rumoured that he said that he was disgusted at the news that Potter boys were threatened by the crowd-_"

They were interrupted from Harry reading _The Prophet_ by Teddy's arrival in the kitchen. He wobbled slightly on his feet and he took a seat, breathing deeply.

"Teddy, you alright?" he shook his head.

"Scor's been called before the Wizengemot."


	2. Callings

_**Dear Readers,**_

_**Okay, so, I guess this is the point where I get down on one knee and grovel because of the incredible amount of time it's taken for me to update. I have several excuses that I am ready to dish out; if any of you are interested in reading this. For one, I've been ill, and I'm not getting better quickly, and, also, my brain is going through a rather hyper-active stage in which it refuses to settle on one topic. However, I did have this done ages ago, and I plans to have it Betaed but they seem to have fallen, and I thought you deserved a update! **__**So enjoy, and hopefully the next one will be sooner as I've written up to chapter four, and I've planned 5, 6 and 7. **_

_**Sopphires**_

* * *

Callings

Scorpius gave up trying to fasten his tie after three attempts. He was stood in front of the tall mirror in his Aunt's bedroom trying, and failing, to put on a muggle suit. Today he was being called before the Wizengamot to speak as a witness in a trial. The strange thing was that he didn't know what trial this was. He wasn't aware that he'd witnessed any crime, unless of course you counted his mother's murder over a year ago, but they'd have heard if they'd caught Hardingly so that couldn't be it. Besides he hadn't actually seen that happen so, again, it didn't fit.

The sudden, and frankly unexpected, upheaval of Scor's life was all due to the escaped death eaters at the end of July. When he'd gone to bed after Uncle Harry's birthday celebration he'd been quite happy and content, but when he'd awoken Aunt Andy had been crying in the kitchen as she read the story on the front page of _The Prophet_. Since that day Scorpius had not left the house. He had stayed cooped up in his bedroom reading the textbooks on Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes, all of which he was starting when he returned to Hogwarts. He knew for a fact he would be sharing these lessons with Rose, because she had chosen the same as him, but Caly wasn't allowed to take Muggle Studies being muggle born so had opted for Arithmancy instead, however she was still taking Ancient Runes. Al had surprised them all by deciding to take Divination over Ancient Runes. Scor knew that Al believed in prophecies and all that kind of thing, they'd had an argument about it after all, but Scor thought that it was a load of trash. He believed that all prophecies that were fulfilled were done because of self-fulfilment, you heard it so you did it, or motived by other events. Of course Al refused to back down on this subject, and still insisted on taking it, despite his dad insisting that it was a waste of time even though Professor Trawleny was a real seer.

* * *

"Mirror." he said, eventually, his voice meek and exasperated. "Please will you help me?" His Aunt's mirror wasn't a normal mirror, instead, like many magical mirrors, it criticised the user on the way they dressed and offered advice on how to improve it. The mirror had tried to help Scor with the suit but Scor had gotten cross with it, because he could dress himself, and told it to shut up. Now, however, he was in desperate need for help because he had to leave in five minutes.

"Well look who's come crawling back." Scor scowled at the glass at the sound of the smooth, light, girlish voice that echoed out from the frame.

"Shut up." he hissed, "and tell me how to tie this wretched thing!" There was a clucking noise, and he knew that they were going to take even longer at this rate. He ought to know better than to annoy her as she complained to his aunt because he often lost his patience with her.

The next five minutes were quite a painful time as the mirror took her revenge on his snarky remarks by making him nearly strangle himself twice, and tie his hands together once. He'd managed to get it not too tight and in what the mirror called the 'polite' length with only a couple more seconds to spare. The ministry were connecting their house to their floo network, but the connection wouldn't last very long so if he missed it he'd be in big trouble.

"Thank you!" he shouted out as he rushed out of his Aunt's bedroom, and heard the mirror cluck, again, as the door slammed behind him.

"Quickly! Quickly!" Teddy was standing in the kitchen dressed in dress robes, ready to escort him to the court room. He stuffed his feet into his shoes, and Teddy flicked his wand, tying them instantly. Scor let out a groan as he realised Teddy could have done the same thing with his tie. Andromeda came running forward, a comb in one hand and a pot of hair gel in the other.

"Wait!" she called out, "You need to look smart." Scor looked down at his black suit and tie and shiny school shoes.

"I am smart." He protested, but Andromeda was not satisfied with his hair. She had run the comb through it twice, tutting, when Teddy, abruptly, grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the fireplace.

"Sorry grandma," he called, "but this is sort of an emergency." Scor took the floo powder from the pot Teddy had just shoved into his hands. Dropping the powder in the fireplace he cried.

"Ministry of Magic!"

* * *

Coughing, Scor clambered out of the fireplace and into the huge atrium of the Ministry. Scor had been here before with his mum when he was younger, and, as he saw the fountain, he felt a lump grow in his throat. The fountain, which was no longer a symbol of oppression, was the place he'd told his mum about Rachel. His mum had been working the night shift, and his father had been away, looking for a job. As Scor was restless they'd come for a walk along the deserted atrium, and, when they'd stopped by the fountain, Scor had spilled his secret to her on the spur of the moment. She'd listened to it all without saying a word, and when he'd finished she'd gathered him into her arms and held him whilst he cried. She'd kissed the top of his head, and then taken out a galleon, throwing it into the water she told him to make a wish. There, in the middle of the night, a seven-year-old Scorpius had stood, hands clutching the stone edge tightly, and wished that someday he would be forgiven for what he'd done.

"Scor?" Scor looked up at the hand he'd felt on his shoulder. Teddy was standing over him, his face unnaturally sombre and his appearance distinctly colourless. Scorpius had confessed his crime to the whole family, and the forgiveness he'd found in all of them was overwhelming. Hagrid, too, had said nothing but kind things to him in the letters that they'd been sending backwards and forwards all summer. Scor found Hagrid a fascinating person to listen to. He was incredibly wise and Scor knew that Hagrid was the kind of person he wanted to be like when he was older; kind, loyal, wise and accepting. Hagrid also had a quality about him that made him seem far younger than he was. Yes, Scorpius looked up to him a great deal now.

"I'm fine." he whispered, answering Teddy's unasked question. "I just…with my mum." Teddy's hand squeezed his shoulder.

"When we come out you can tell me about it." Teddy led him towards the lifts and when they entered he was immediately drawn into conversation with several other occupants.

"I know Zac, I don't know whether to be worried or pleased. There have been no attacks which is obviously good, but I can't help but worry. No good can come of their silence, I'm sure of that." Scor lifted his head as he clocked onto what the conversation in the lift was about.

"Teddy, do you know anything more about what he's going to do with Harry and Hermione?"

"No Aria, I've not heard a thing. Say, do you know what the trial today is about? I'm taking my cousin-" at this point more pressure was applied to Scor's shoulder and eyes fell onto him. "-but we've got no idea what he's testifying about." The woman called Aria shook her head so that her brown ringlets swung from side to side.

"Not a clue, but I do know that yesterday that a woman named Felicity Overy was sentenced to three months in Azkaban."

"Professor Overy was sent to Azkaban?" the eyes fell back onto to Scor who was staring up at the adults with confusion and shock. "Why?" Aria shrugged.

"Something about conspiring with enemies."

"But that wasn't her fault!" protested Scor, and Teddy gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Scor, these trials are being used to raise the popularity of the new Ministry, he's not really interested in whether or not she was seduced." Scor pursed his lips and said nothing more, making a mental note to send a letter to the others with the news, though they might already know about it if it had been in the papers.

When the lift reached the floor for the Department of Mysteries the only people left in the lift were Teddy, Aria and himself. Aria led the two of them along the long, dark, corridor to a set of stairs that led them even further underground. Scor swallowed slightly as the nerves inside him grew. What was going on? Looking along the corridor he was surprised to see many occupants of Slytherin House, sitting on benches, waiting to go into the court room.

"Excuse me." murmured Aria, and Scor watched as she crept past the waiting students and through into the courtroom.

"Teddy, what's going on?" Teddy shook his head, a frown on his face as he surveyed the people in the corridor. Some of the older boys hissed in his direction, but Teddy turned the other cheek.

"I think another of your teachers is on trial." he whispered so that only Scor could hear. "All those pupils are Slytherins, is there a teacher that's biased?" Scor widened his eyes, and was about to reply when the sound of hurried feet descending the staircase attracted their attention.

There, both looking like they'd just fallen out of bed the wrong way, were Harry and Caly. Harry was leading Caly by the hand and she looked incredibly perplexed. Unlike Scor she wasn't smartly dressed at all, in fact she looked as if she'd just grabbed the first thing she could find in her wardrobe. Harry's hair was completely on end, and Caly was attempting to walk and tie hers back so that it looked more presentable.

"Harry? Caly? What are you doing here?" Harry was breathing heavily and he looked angry.

"Got a summons _this_ morning, and no idea why we have to be here." he shook his head. "This is getting on my last nerve."

"I think Professor Liann is on trial." whispered Scor so that only Harry, Caly and Teddy can hear him. Caly's eyes went wide.

"Why?"

"Well, she's not exactly impartial, is she? And all the people here, well they're Slytherins." Caly frowned and looked between Teddy and Harry.

"Except for us." Scor didn't join in her frown because he knew exactly why he was there.

"I'm still disliked, though I have to admit I've got _no idea_ why you're here." Caly tightened her pony tail and breathed deeply.

"What do you think's gonna happen?" Harry shook his head, looking at Teddy. Teddy shrugged.

"Aria's there so it must be serious. If you get into trouble, though," he said looking between them. "just look at her. She's a good person." Scor chewed his lip and nodded.

The four of them sat in silence as the pupils were called in one by one, their parents forced to wait outside. They did not return, however, from the court room and it made each breath Caly took a little sharper. Scor kept running a hand, anxiously, through his hair, and glancing around, unable to say anything to Caly. Caly twisted her hands in her lap and listened to Teddy and Harry's whispered discussion about politics. From what she could hear neither were impressed by the actions that he was doing, especially as Procurater had left Kingsley in charge of the hunt for Death eaters - in fact he'd left all of the people in that team alone.

* * *

"Miss Hautly," an usher had opened the door, and Caly got to her feet, Harry following her. Caly looked down at Scor and met his grey eyes, confusion rife in both of theirs. Harry laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What ever you do, tell the truth." Caly nodded and walked over to usher who gave both Teddy and Harry sympathetic looks.

Caly stepped into the large courtroom. The walls were lined with benches that rose up to the ceiling, on these benches were seated people in robes looking rather self-important, though she noticed that many of the older people looked disgruntled and angry with the proceedings. The Slytherins that had been called and then questioned sat to one side, and in the middle, in a chair with chains that bound her to it, was Professor Liann. Caly was used to her Transfiguration teacher's poker face, or her unusually bright smile whenever she saw a really good piece of work, but the open fear in her face now was something that seemed more foreign than the actual idea of magic had first appeared. Worse still was a man, she presumed her husband, with one leg sitting there with a small boy on his lap. His face was more frightened than hers and Caly noticed the way his eyes darted around the room, as if looking for an escape, or a sign of danger.

"Miss Hautly," Ernest Procurater was smiling down at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. "Please take a seat." she met Professor Liann's eyes as she made her way towards a hard backed, wooden, chair. Professor Liann gave her a small smile, as if to comfort, and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Sinking into it, body tense and on edge, she looked up at Mr Procurater. "You have been called before the Wizengamot to give evidence regarding discrimination at Hogwarts school, do you understand?" Caly's eyes widened and nodded once. She found it uncomfortable to keep eye contact with him so she slid her eyes along the front row until she saw Professor McGonagall sitting next to a woman around Teddy's age who she guessed was Aria, from her kind expression. Professor McGonagall gave her an almost imperceptible smile and motioned her head towards Procurater. Unwilling, Caly met his eyes again.

"Professor Liann has been charged with discrimination against pupils in her class, what say you to that?" Caly's eyes darted around the room, unable to think of an answer. Of course Professor Liann discriminated, it was blinding obvious, but at the same time… Caly genuinely like her Transfiguration professor. She was…not a bad person. She also didn't make Caly sit there and feel like an idiot, she tried to help her.

"I…I don't understand the question." she was almost certain that her response had cause Professor McGonagall to smirk slightly.

"We understand that you are a…" he trailed off as if looking for the right words. "special needs student." Had the situation been different, Caly might well have snorted in derision at the phrase.

"Um…well, I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Yes, and we were wondering, whether you have been mistreated…belittled even by her." Caly frowned, there the first lesson but she hadn't known. Slowly she shook her head.

"No, no." Procurater's accusatory glare, as if trying to force a lie out of her, riled her up. "In fact Professor Liann's one of the better teachers. She doesn't make me suffer with spells I can't do, she gives me work, makes my lessons productive, I've learnt _a lot_ from her lessons, not all of it I understand but…" she shrugged. "It beats last year." Professor McGonagall was definitely hiding a smile and there was something almost hopeful in Liann's eyes when Caly dared to make eye contact with her.

"Very well," said Procurater, a dissatisfied note to his voice. "You're dismissed, go sit with the other witnesses." she got to her feet whilst the usher left the room. Professor McGonagall was nodding at her and Caly knew she must have done something right. This filled her with a hope that was quickly drowned out when she saw Scor being led into the dungeon. Any goodness she'd done would be immediately undone by Scorpius. He was furious with Liann for all her bullying. He'd want revenge, right?

* * *

Scorpius looked around the court in confusion. He knew he was before the Wizengamot, but the sight of the whole court assembled just to discipline a teacher seemed absurd. The thing that caught his eye even more, though, was the sight of man with one leg and little boy. He could see that the boy was her's; his forehead was the same, square, shape and the eyes were startling similar. She had a family. The idea had never struck him before, Scorpius had always thought of her as a cold-hearted, callous, lonely woman, consumed in bitterness. He guessed he was wrong, he swallowed and met Caly's gaze. The apprehension in her eyes did nothing to reassure him about the situation. There was also something unsettling about the Slytherin's looks, something like anticipation. Except for Sheridan. Sheridan was leaning back in his seat and he was gazing at Scorpius with a calculating look.

"Take a seat Mr Malfoy," Scorpius carefully took the seat that Caly had just vacated and looked up at Professor McGonagall for guidance. Her face was impassive but Scor was sure that the intensity of her gaze was unnatural. He was the last witness, he knew that, so was the trial resting on his shoulders? Was the fate of his teacher in his own hands?

"Professor Liann has been charged with discrimination against pupils in her class, what say you to that?" Scorpius tried to not let his eyes go wide. He took a deep breath. What did he say? His eyes darted around the dungeon, put off by the staring, glares, of the assembled wizards and witches. "Don't be afraid," Procurater was leaning forward, a glint in his eyes. "tell us what you think? Has she ever bullied you? Made unjust remarks? Threatened you?"

Scorpius' eyebrows shot, uncontrollably, up. _Threatened_? He glanced at the Slytherins, well what did he expect? His chest rose and fell a little faster. He met Procurater's eyes, still hard as wood. He looked for Aria, and noticed that there was a resolute sadness. Professor McGonagall had her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted and her teeth almost clenched, she looked as if she were praying. He didn't dare meet Liann's eyes so he looked at her husband who was hugging the little boy to his chest. He was whimpering slightly, and, as he watched the man rub the stump that had been his right leg and briefly touch a hand to the crutches - as if to make sure they were still there, something connected in his mind. The man couldn't work… His eyes met Caly's, and she was sitting back in her seat, her eyes' calculating the scene and her eyebrows scrunched together. He looked down, ignoring the prompting he was getting from Procurater. He met Liann's eyes, a heavy feeling in his heart, and was shocked to see the understanding in her eyes, like she knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling. Unable to keep eye-contact he tore his gaze from her and his eyes fell onto the last pair he wanted to meet. Sheridan's knowing gaze was more than he could bare, like he knew exactly what was going on inside his head and he knew what he was pushing Scorpius to do - just like when they were younger.

"No!" he had jumped to his feet, his arms falling to his sides. He could only think of one thing. Rachel. Rachel and that little child. Of ruining people's lives. Of screwing up, again. There was also the strange wonder, right in the back of his mind, just _what_ Sheridan was playing at?

"I beg your pardon?" Procurater looked taken aback and Professor McGonagall's eyes had flown open.

"She's one of the best teachers we have. I did so much better under her than last year and that's not just because of…" he trailed off, gulping in enough air to continue his tirade. "She pushes people. She makes them _try_. I'd be first to admit that my Transfiguration is not as good as my other work and _I know_ that everybody has high expectations, least of all me. The fact is, though, that I could just sleep my way through and I'd probably be okay but _she knows_ that. I did almost as well Rose in the test we took and she's the best in the year. Professor Liann's teaching is…unorthodox but it's _effective_. It _works_. Having a critical teacher is, yeah, annoying as hell sometimes because sometimes you feel like your works being undervalued, but it makes you try _so much harder_ because you want to _show them_ that you _can_ do it!" he stopped talking abruptly, his chest rising and falling. He wasn't even looking at Procurater, no, he was glaring right at the Slytherins. "And I think that some of the other witnesses are a little confused, this _isn't_ the murdering, evil, Transfiguration teacher, that was the old one." he finished with a biting sarcasm to his voice that was infused with disdain. Caly was hiding what Scor knew was a smile, and Professor McGonagll was looking at him with pride.

"You say that her methods are effective teaching?" Scorpius nodded and awkwardly re-took his seat, sending a sideways glance at Professor Liann and saw that she was doing a rather poor job of disguising her shock. Filling his lungs with more oxygen he gave a more firm nod.

"Yes, yes I am."

"Very well, take a seat with the others." Scor did not hesitate to hurry into the seat next to Caly. She gave him a smile that was unusually bright in the current environment.

"You have to let her go." the woman on Procurater's right was talking in a stage whisper. "We did say. Two claims in defence, one of them was very passionate." the gavel fell.

"Professor Liann you are cleared of all charges," her posture, and that of the man, completely collapsed. "_but_ you must a meeting with the board of governors once a month, and any more accusations against your name will result in immediate suspension." she didn't look like she cared, however, she was running a hand over her face, beaming. "Court dismissed." Scor and Caly immediately got up and left the seats on the side. Professor McGonagall had moved down to her, and hugged her whilst her husband struggled to stand whilst still holding his son.

* * *

"What happened?" Harry and Teddy both leapt to their feet. The memo in Harry's hand fell down slowly, drifting lazily to the ground. Scor suddenly found that his legs were slightly wobbly, the weight of what he'd just done starting to impress upon him. He had _lied_ to a court.

"We'll talk later." murmured Caly, shooting covert looks at Scor. Harry nodded, casting him a confused look, and Teddy placed a hand on his shoulder, frowning.

"We'd best go to Grandma's." muttered Teddy. "She'll want to know what's going on." Harry didn't bother to remark that Ginny and his children were worried too, but he was forcibly reminded that Dolohov had escaped, again, and he was Teddy's father's murderer so… He swallowed and let silence descend as they passed into the lifts. Many of the occupants desired to discuss, in whispers, what had happened down in the court, but Harry could only shrug and engage in a whispered conversation about their new Minister. Caly noticed that Harry was being very impartial and guarded with his views, and was probing more than he was answering. It took her till the lift pinged back into the atrium to realise that he was trying to gauge what the other employees thought of Procurater without alerting anyone to his own views.

The atrium was decidedly less packed than it had been when they were last there, most people having now arrived at their jobs, but there were still people - and some goblins and elves - meandering, hurriedly or not, through the giant entrance hall, nose's dipped into newspapers or long reports from work. Scor's eyes fell onto the fountain whilst Caly's gaze was fixed on the ceiling. The twisting pattern had captivated her attention - there was a strange beauty to the way the shapes twisted themselves intricately and effortless into new ones without any prompting or obvious plan. It was like staring at organised chaos. Harry gripped Caly's shoulder, steering her through the crowd and rolling his eyes simultaneously at Teddy, who grinned in a mischievous way back at him.

Harry was trying, in vain, not to worry over the situation that was developing before him. No sightings, no news, of the Death Eaters could only herald bad consequences, and Procurater's interest in the affairs of Hogwarts was disturbing to say the least. Harry did not like the fact that he had appeared from nowhere. He could deal with him slagging his own reputation off, he'd had it before and he'd have it again - Hermione could deal with it too, she was a grown up after all - but what worried him was Procurater getting to his children, his nieces and nephews. Or worse, letting the Death Eaters get to them. His lack of action on that front made Harry wary. It also made him aware that he was dealing with a clever opposition. He was playing up to everybody, gaining support across the field. The general public wanted dementors; he gave it to them. The Slytherin students were being subjected to bullying; he persecuted the teacher. Everybody was heartened by the fact that Kingsley was leading the hunt; he stayed. Procurater was keeping the scales balanced which left Harry wondering; how long was it before they became too great a weight to hold?

* * *

"You lied?" there was a hushed silence around Andromeda's living room as Caly and Scorpius sat next to each other on the sofa, and recounted the tale of what had happened inside of the courtroom. The rest of the Potter's, plus Rose and Hugo who had come over from the Burrow, were seated on various cushions, seats and ledges. The adults had cups of tea or coffee in their hands whilst an empty jug of pumpkin juice stood in the middle of the room, it's contents having been emptied into all the different beakers held by the children. Andromeda, who was sitting in one of the armchairs, looked like she now needed something a great deal stronger than tea or coffee, and Teddy was cautiously supporting her with his right hand.

"I didn't have choice," he said shaking his head. Al raised his eyebrows and Rose hadn't moved her hands from where they'd been clamped over her face. Even James, who had previously been sitting in the corner of the room on the window sill, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what was going on, now looked on in interest. "You should have seen her family," he shook his head, looking down at his hands. "her kid was what?" he glanced at Caly shrugging. "Two? Three?" Caly nodded. "And her husband, he didn't have two legs. He only had one and a stump. There was _no way_ he could work."

The silence that followed meant that Scorpius didn't have to explain anything any further. Scorpius decided not to mention Sheridan and the strangeness that seemed to have passed between them in that room, though it still nagged away at the back of his mind; just _what_ was he up to? Had he known what Scorpius would do? And if so, why did he want that? Scorpius rubbed his forehead, the questions going round in unceasing circles.

"But what if they find out?" Scorpius looked at Rose and shrugged.

"I didn't lie, per se, I just bent the truth." It was Rose's turn to raise her eyebrows. "What? You can't deny that I did much better this year compared to last, and I can tell you why; because I wanted to prove to Professor Liann that I was just as good as you, as anyone. Sure it's bullying, but it did help my mark; let's just hope that this year things change." Harry nodded.

"I wouldn't have much fear of that. No doubt you leaping to her defence in there will give her something to think about; I think you need some rest, though." Scor gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I hope."

Harry nodded and rubbed a hand over his face. Ginny cast him a sideways look and he greeted it with a small smile. Caly twisted her hands in her lap, noticing the subtle rise of tension in the room that had the silence had heralded. She flickered her gaze to Al, still sitting cross legged and looking thoughtful, to Rose who had sunk her chin into her hand and was gazing up at Scor. Hugo was glancing around, his eyes meeting Lily's the most, and Lily kept blinking and looking between her parents in a confused manner. James was the only person in the room who didn't look confused or thoughtful. He was staring off into the distance, an angry frown on his face. Caly had long since given up trying to discern what was making James snap at everyone, and mope around the house with his hands stuffed into his pockets. As far as Caly could tell he'd never quite gotten over the four of them running off into danger at the end of last year. His tiny outburst at the end about how 'immature' they were had been nothing compared to the time when Caly and Al had gone out and come back half an hour later than they'd said they would.

* * *

"_I told you that that was the wrong way!" Al rolled his eyes, and flicked a stray lock of hair from in front of his glasses. _

"_Shut up! I don't understand how you can know that! I've spent all my life round here, and I still get lost. You spend a couple of holidays and it's like the palm of your hand." _

"_Yeah, well, I've got good memory." Al rolled his eyes again. _

"_Forever singing your own virtues." Caly huffed. _

"_Just because I got 100% in Potions and Herbology…"_

"_Oh come on, not even _Rose _or _Scor _did that well! You are _seriously _weird."_

"_Really? I hadn't noticed." _

_Their playful conversation came to a halt as they reached the top of the front steps. They continued to chortle with laughter, though, as Al pulled the keys from his pocket, and inserted them into the lock. With an over exaggerated turn of the key he unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Caly hurried in just behind him, and kicked off her trainers, which were starting to come apart slightly. The weather, having been unusually warm, had meant that neither of them had taken jackets or jumpers, and Al was, in fact, wearing a pair of knee length cargo shorts. The two of them had just decided, because the house was getting stuffy, to go for a walk around London. As Ginny was working in her office, and, not wanting to disturb her, they'd told James that they were going out and when they'd be back. He'd given them both death glares, and then turned back to the sheet of paper before him. They'd taken that as a yes and promptly left the building. _

"_Come on." said Al, "I'm completely parched, I reckon we might have some pumpkin juice still." Caly nodded, wiping some sticky strands of hair from her forehead, and following him towards the kitchen._

_They both had cups of juice and were heading back to Al's room when they heard thundering footsteps on the landing. James had come hurtling down the stairs and was glaring at both of them. His mop of dark brown hair was mussed all over the place and his eyes were set. _

"_Where _have _you been?" Al raised his eyebrows._

"_Sorry _mum._" _

"_You told me you'd be back _half an hour_ ago! Do you _like_ having people worry about you? Is that why you do all this stupid stuff? Because you enjoy the feeling of people worrying over you?" Al had shot Caly a completely confused look before turning back to his older brother._

"_James, what the hell are you on about?" _

"_You know perfectly well! Maybe you should just stop and think about other people for a sec! Had it ever occurred to you what mum might have gone through had she found out that you were wondering around unaccounted for!" _

"_But she didn't." said Al in a voice that was meant to be soothing but came out very patronising. Caly, who would normally, leap at a chance to argue with James, was standing back, surveying the situation. She reckoned she got what was going on here, even if Al didn't. _

"_You know what, _fine_! If you want to be a selfish prick, then go ahead, don't let me stop you! Just don't say I didn't warn you!" James turned around and stormed up towards the attic, slamming the door behind him. Al turned to Caly, his face contorted with confusion. _

"_Do you understand what the hell just happened?" Caly made a non-committal movement with her head, and led the way back to Al's room in silence. _

* * *

"_Hey," Al was out with Harry, Lily and Ginny in the garden playing Quidditch which left James and Caly in the house. Caly reckoned James had probably had enough time to calm down by now, and so had decided to go and see if she could talk to him. He looked up, covering a piece of paper with some books and gave her a half smile. _

"_Hey yourself."_

"_Good come back." said Caly coming further into the room. "really original." James let out a 'humph' and crossed his arms across his chest. _

"_What do you want?" Caly held up her right hand which contained a chess board. _

"_The rest of your family are indulging their obsession for Quidditch so I figured we might as well play chess." James gave her a long look before shrugging. _

"_Sure, what the hell." _

_Caly had just subjected James to a painful defeat in which she had managed to trick him into thinking he was winning, and, thus, luring his king into her awaiting trap which consisted of a lone pawn, rook and king. James sat back, and ran a hand through his messy hair. _

"_I'm not going to tell you what I'm really thinking," he said after a pause, and Caly burst out laughing._

"_Cheers, probably." they fell into a semi-comfortable silence until Caly leant forward, shifting slightly in her chair. "You know, Al knows you care about him." James looked at her, an almost blank expression on his face._

"_What?"_

"_We know you care, we are aware that you're not some heartless beast. I mean, sure, when it comes to girlfriends maybe, but family's a whole different ballgame." James continued to look blank, but Caly was sure she'd seen a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. _

"_I don't understand what you're talking about." Caly sat back and surveyed James, trying to work out how best to get through to him. _

"_I know you were worried. You're worried about us, probably more than normal, but you don't have to be. You're not an adult James, you're not responsible for myself or Al, or anybody else." James stared at her for a second more before turning away, back to his desk. _

"_That's another tactic that the book you bought me doesn't teach you how to defend against. I think I may have to write my own." Caly understood that that was her signal to leave James alone, obligingly she got up._

* * *

Caly was half considering trying to talk to him again but she knew that even she could only get so far with him. James was a law unto himself most of the time, and not a week after they'd come back late the death eaters had broken out of Azkaban, which she reckoned was doing nothing to help his strange, protective, nature. James might not say anything a lot of the time, but something had changed about him. She wondered, vaguely, if it was to do with Lily and her going to Hogwarts. Lily and James were close, closer probably than Al and James. Though she'd told herself that she'd given up trying to define and understand the relationships between the Potter siblings she often found herself pondering it, especially when a row erupted.

* * *

They did not stay at Andromeda's for dinner. Scor had been exhausted and fallen asleep against Caly's shoulder, his breath coming in a slightly juddery fashion, implying his dreams weren't quite as peaceful as he might have liked. Not long later Hermione had turned up, looking stressed and put upon and quickly collected Rose and Hugo but not before muttering that five people from her department had been sacked in her name without her notification or permission. It was at this point that had decided that it would be good for them all to go back to Grimuald Place. They flooed in near silence, and Al caught Caly with a lopsided, half, smile. They all stumbled up to their separate rooms, tired though it wasn't that late. Lily had changed in silence, not at all her bubbly self, and stared at the Quidditch posters on the wall as she brushed her long, red, hair.

"Caly?" they both were lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Caly rolled onto her side to face the shadow that was Lily.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Caly rolled her eyes, propping herself up on her left elbow, sweeping a couple of stray hairs from her face.

"Of course." she said, her voice soft.

"Do you think I'm going to get into Gryffindor?" Caly let the question hang in the hair between them for a long while, trying to formulate an answer. Eventually she sat up against her headboard and frowned.

"Has James been messing with you again?" Lily laughed quietly.

"No, he hasn't said a word about anything to do with Hogwarts since the whole 'Broardmoor' thing." Caly nodded, that made sense.

"Why don't you think you're going to be a Gryffindor?" Lily shifted and moved into the same sitting position, sweeping the short cut hairs of her fringe that had stuck to her eyes away.

"Because in that riot I just hid, I let mum hold me and I shook and I cried and I was terrified." Caly smiled softly into the darkness. She lifted her chin towards the sky and let out a quiet laugh; did Lily have any idea how scary at had been for them all?

"Lily…being scared is…normal." she shook her head as she heard Lily shift again, scooting round to face her full on. "I was _terrified_ when that riot was going on. I had _no idea_ what was going on. I mean, with Al and James around I felt okay, but the moment they vanished…" she leant her head backwards and exhaled. "There's no shame in feeling scared. There's no shame in fear. Fear's good."

"What?" Caly laughed in a bitter way.

"When you're afraid you're prepared to make choices that you wouldn't otherwise make when you're not."

"_James get down!" _

"_Expelliarmus!"_

"_Avada Kedavra!" _

Lily flicked her lamp on to look at Caly, her hazel eyes wide. Caly did constantly marvel the expression that was showed behind all the Potter eyes. Al's were the most expressive, each passing emotion showed up clearly in his green eyes, they were truly the window to his soul. Lily's eyes were a more blatant imitation of her strongest emotion; flickering with a blazing fire when was riled, or twinkling when she got a rather mischievous idea. James was the most closed off, his brown eyes could hide a lot of what he was feeling, but even he could not hide all of what he was feeling. Now, though, Lily's eyes showed curiosity and respect.

"You're saying that fear is a good thing?" Caly made a non-committal movement with her head she crossed her legs to face Lily.

"Sometimes." she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I've made choices that are purely influenced by fear. I've been in situations where I've been terrified beyond belief but the thing is…if you make decisions in fear you don't often think it all through… You look at the over view, you do it like that!" she swallowed and blinked at the ceiling. "And sometimes you get it wrong."

"_I'm with you, I made a mistake. Muggles are weak."_

"_Me too." _

She shrugged.

"Fear…just don't let it get to you. The thing that matters is where you want to go. You want to be in Gryffindor…don't let the hat tell you otherwise. The thing is, Lily, you're strong. You know what you want, you have done for a long time. Don't let one incident define who you are, people change." Lily nodded.

"But just say…"

"That you're not in Gryffindor? What does it matter, you've got cousins in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

"But Slytherin-"

"Lily, I _know_ Slytherins, okay? I've had the misfortune of meeting them, and you will _never_ be one, okay? You- just trust me okay, you're not going to be in Slytherin." There was a silence before Lily nodded. Caly breathed out in relief.

"You know the Death Eaters?" Caly sighed and tried to not roll her eyes. "They're coming after us, right?"

"That's what everyone seems to think."

"Do you think they'll find us?" Caly paused. She could not describe how much she wished to tell Lily that, no the Death Eaters would not get into Hogwarts. Oh! How much she longed to be able to lie like that, but that wasn't fair. Lily deserved the truth and Caly couldn't make up something like that, they could get in. Hogwarts wasn't a stronghold, it wasn't a fortress, it was a _school_. Castle or not it was still a school, still full of children and weaknesses. She sighed again.

"I don't think it's really a question of _finding_, Lily, they know where you are - or, rather, where you're going to be, but I think, probably, they might be able to get into Hogwarts…it depends, doesn't it, whether security is tightened and whether it's effective." she trailed her gaze back to Lily who looked pale and scared. "You're not going to be on your own, Lily, breaking in is one thing, getting through unnoticed is another." she stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "They'd need something like Al's cloak." Lily nodded and wriggled down into her blankets.

"Would you sing to me?" Caly paused, it was relatively late in the night, she could potentially wake the whole house up, but Lily was in need of some comfort. Slowly she reached for her guitar and placed it on her lap. Glancing over to Lily, who was watching her with expectant eyes, she slowly began to strum the intro and sing

"_When I find myself in times of trouble_

_Mother Mary comes to me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be_

_And in my hour of darkness_

_She is standing right in front of me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be_

_Let it be, let it be_

_Let it be, let it be_

_Whisper words of wisdom_

_Let it be-"_

Lily was asleep before Caly reached the verse after the first chorus. With a sense of satisfaction that she had calmed Lily down, and with a tiredness that came nagging thoughts and constant worries she replaced the guitar on the floor and laid her head on her pillow. Term was fast approaching, and she had no doubts in her mind that Lily would be a Gryffindor, but she was more concerned about what would happen at Hogwarts. She had not been entirely honest with Lily because, still ever present in the back of her mind, was the knowledge that it had never been discovered _how_ Winters had gotten into Hogwarts. If he could than the Death Eaters could. However Lily didn't need to be reminded of that, not yet.


	3. The Lostbottoms

**_Dear Readers,_**

**_Sorry, again, for the delay in updating. I could repeat the same excuses that I've been giving over and over, but I might as well just let you get on with the story. Hopefully, as I'm on summer holiday, I'll be able to get some more done...fingers crossed. _**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

The Lostbottoms

"JAMES!" Ginny Potter stood at the bottom of the stairs and hollered up to her fourteen year old son who seemed to not have realised that it was half-past ten and that meant that, if they didn't move soon, they would miss the train. "JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, IF YOU DON'T GET DOWN HERE _RIGHT NOW_ I'LL-" Her yelling was interrupted by James' heavy footsteps and answering shouts.

"_Jeez_ mum! I'm _coming_!" he stomped down the stairs, trunk banging on every other step.

"James this is your sister's big day, can _please_ at least _pretend _that you're interested." James glared at his mother and promptly brushed straight past her, though not before Al and Caly had seen a dangerous glint alight James' eyes. Al sent her a quizzical look to which simply Caly raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Al pulled an expression that read 'ah well', and turned over to Lily who was bouncing up and down her hair falling from her plait.

"Are we going _now_?" Any hint of worry or self-doubt seemed to have evaporated and Lily, along with Hugo and Billy, was behaving like a tethered wild horse - vainly attempting to pull herself free of all restraints and run to where she wanted to be. James came to a stop before her and, glancing around surreptitiously to make sure that their mother couldn't see, slipped his hand into his pocket. He withdrew a small package wrapped in brown paper and pressed it into Lily's hand whilst holding a finger to his lips. She frowned slightly before tucking it into her own pocket and throwing her arms around her oldest brother. James put his arms protectively around her and winked at both Al and Caly with a ghost of his smart-arsed grin haunting his lips. Ginny came hurrying back, dragging Harry by the scruff of his cloak. Harry had _huge_ bags underneath his eyes and he gave them all a weak smile.

"Come on." he said, putting an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Let's get into the cars, we've got an escort and they've got places to be…people to hunt." Ginny let out a little groan at what he said as Lily turned her, now worried, face to Harry.

"Dad?" Harry elicited another weak smile.

"It's fine Lily, it's just a precaution. Just an over precaution, but better safe than sorry." He steered Lily into the Ministry car, nodding at the driver as he lifted Lily's trunk into the boot. Al and Caly heaved their trunks into the bag and filed in after her. James slammed the passenger door loudly and sunk down low in his seat, crossing his arms across his chest.

* * *

"We're going to miss the train!" cried Lily, hysterically.

"No we're _not_!" insisted James as they loaded their trunks onto trolleys and headed down onto the platforms of Kings Cross. That being said they did actually only have ten minutes till the train left.

"But James!"

"Just shut _up_, Lily!" he let go of her hand and ran at the barrier, disappearing through it and Lily clutched on to her mum's arm.

"Off you go you two." said Harry waving Al and Caly to head through. They set off together and Al made it through first, Caly's trolley clipping at his heels. The noise that filled Caly's ears was strangely comforting and she smiled, widely, as she saw the scarlet steam train before her and all the Hogwarts students milling around. Al, too, was grinning broadly and the two of them immediately set off down the platform in search of Rose and Scor.

As they passed through the crowds they both became aware of the stares that were following them, and the whispers that erupted as Al passed. Al shifted, uncomfortably, and glanced at Caly who shrugged. A man drew his small daughter away from them and there was a definite rise in tension. Al bit his lip before raising his head and continuing to march on, down the platform.

"There you are!" Rose was hanging out of a compartment window with Scor.

"We thought you weren't coming!" added Scor as he hopped off the train to help Caly with her trunk.

"Where's James?" asked Teddy as he settled Al's trunk in the luggage rack.

"I think he went in search of Colin and Lorcan and Lysander." said Al with a shrug, waving at his mum and dad as they pushed through the crowd. "Right, Lily, let's get your stuff on." Harry and Dudley lifted her trunk and owl on together as Al let Phineas out onto his shoulder. Billy and Hugo hurried out of one of the compartments next to theirs and they hugged their parents once more as the whistle blew. Ginny slammed the door shut with tears in her eyes as her youngest child's face hung from one of the windows. Harry blinked away his own tears, it seemed like only yesterday that it had been _James _gliding away from him but now his little girl was going too. Ginny was walking alongside the train telling Lily to stay safe and behave. Harry chased after her until he was about level with his son and friends' compartment.

"Look after her!" he yelled as the train rounded the corner. The last thing he saw were four faces nodding before it vanished from sight and steam blew in his face. He breathed deeply. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned to see his cousin there. Just behind him he saw that Hermione had an arm around Veronica who was crying slightly and Casey was standing there, eyes wide, and looking a little lost.

"They'll be alright." Harry wanted to nod but he couldn't.

"You don't know that Dudley." he muttered. "The Death Eaters, they're after us all." Dudley's face remained solemn.

"You kept us safe before, and that was from Voldermort, you can do it again." Harry let out a half laugh, a small smile tugging the left side of his mouth.

"Nice to know you've got faith in me." Dudley shrugged.

"I don't have much choice, besides, I was an idiot when I was younger but not anymore." Harry nodded, his sense of humour seeming to return to him.

"You wish."

* * *

Al settled into his seat, allowing Phineas to run along his fingers. Rose had pulled out her Transfiguration text book and was reading it avidly. Caly was lightly tugging on the feather around her wrist and Scor gazed out of the window, seemingly lost in thought.

"You okay?" he turned to face Al whose green eyes were trained on him, filled with worry and concern. Scorpius pulled a fake grin onto his face and shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Don't do that." said Rose, not looking up from her book but frowning all the same.

"Do what?"

"Pretend you're fine when you're not, you can be honest with us." Scorpius sighed, eyes falling to the interlocking fingers in his lap.

"I'm fine just…just not really looking forward to Hogwarts anymore." Al frowned.

"Why not?" Scor shrugged.

"I guess…the Slytherins, the Death Eaters, Professor Liann…I'm not allowed to Hogsmeade."

"What?" demanded Al. Rose, Scor and Caly rolled their eyes as one.

"Al, did you really think Andromeda would sign the form?" Al frowned a little, sitting back in his seat.

"Well…I guess not, but still! Mum and dad signed ours!"

"Yeah well…" Scor trailed off looking out of the window, shrugging.

"Why are you worried about Professor Liann?" questioned Caly. "You lied at her trial to keep her at Hogwarts."

"I didn't _lie_ I just-"

"-bent the truth, yeah we know." Scor glared at Al for a second before turning back to Caly.

"I guess I just, I don't want to go and find that I did all that and she's still the same…but at the same time, I don't want it to be different. I don't want to suddenly be her favourite." there was a silence before Al shook his head.

"Nah, mate, you're going to have to explain that."

"I just, I don't want things to be…awkward. I just, I want to forget about the trial." he said, voice heavy and face downcast. Al opened his mouth to pry further but Caly shook her head. Al frowned before shrugging and closing his mouth. Rose closed the book gently, frowning into the silence.

"What's going on?" everyone looked at her, confused by her question. "You-" she pointed at Caly. "-have your 'I'm thinking through all the stuff and am beginning to work out what's going on' look on." Caly blinked and frowned whilst Al chortled slightly, and Scor leant forward to examine Caly's face.

"Looks pretty normal to me." he said and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Well she's not doing it anymore, but that isn't even the pint." she turned back to Caly who shrugged.

"I don't know, I was just thinking about Procurater." Al narrowed his eyes, and Rose's book was rested onto the seat next to her.

"What about him?" Caly shrugged.

"I don't know…I just…don't you think it's _weird_?" Al allowed Phineas to run across his shoulders and down his left arm and onto the seat before he answered.

"Yeah..."

"This isn't our problem." said Rose, jumping into the conversation instantly. "Whatever's going on outside Hogwarts isn't our problem."

"Yeah." said Caly faintly, her gaze falling out of the window. Her breath fogging up the glass, and Rose turned, with something near to panic, to Scor.

"Scor, come on, we don't have to be involved in anything!" Scor just shrugged.

"I think we're already involved Rose."

"NO!" exclaimed Rose, much louder than was necessary. "We are _not_ already involved. We might have Hardingly and the Death Eaters after us, but that does _not_ mean we need to get involved in politics, or whatever." Al shrugged and looked away, Caly blinked and forced Rose to meet her gaze.

"I get that you don't want anymore trouble, I don't think any of us do, but I can't escape the feeling that this is all linked…somehow." Al ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed.

"I've set before and I'll say it again, what'll come will come."

"_Stop_ being so philosophical!" exclaimed Scor. "It's creepy." Al laughed, brightly, and Scor joined him in. Rose shook her head, a frown still on her forehead, but picked up her textbook and continued to read as the countryside began to appear by the compartment window.

* * *

"Hey!" the compartment door opened and James appeared there. "Did you guys get your invites from Sluggy?" the four of them all looked up. Caly had been playing chess against Scor and Al, who had been more of hindrance than a help, and Rose had been reading her way through all her textbooks.

"Nope." said Al shaking his head, his eyes falling on the invite held in James' hand. "Let's hope he forgot." James snorted and flopped onto the seat next to Al.

"Yeah, like he'd forget to send _Caly_ an invite."

"Sad because you and Caly won't get to be a couple in public?" teased Scor and James threw the letter at his head, scowling.

"Shut _up_! That's disgusting, she's like my sister!" Caly nodded, her nose wrinkling at the idea.

"And this isn't even mentioning the fact that I, unlike the rest of the female population of Hogwarts that isn't a blood relation, have two brain cells to rub together." James scowled even further as the four friends dissolved into laughter.

"Hey James." Al had sobered up and was looking at his brother with a slightly apprehensive expression. "Can I talk to you?" James raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked. "That's such a _girl_ thing to ask." Rose's Charms textbook collided with James' head. "Okay, okay, not a girl thing!" he got to his feet and opened the compartment door, followed by Al who was still rolling his eyes. Scor and Rose looked at each other in confusion, and then turned to Caly with frowns on their faces, but Caly put a finger to her lips and indicated to the compartment window. It was ajar, a fact that neither James or Al had noticed, and the sounds of their conversation were free to float through.

"What did you give Lily?" Al's voice was as low as it could be but there was something defensive in it.

"Doesn't matter."

"Does if it'll hurt her, I've been through enough of your pranks to know they turn nasty. If you didn't want mum and dad to see it then…"

"You think I'd hurt Lily like that?" James' profile straightened up and he was tense. There was a pause in which Al looked up at his brother.

"Yes, you'd do it to me." James seemed to still.

"It's different." he muttered.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Al turned his head in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"It doesn't matter." James pushed past Al. "I'll see you at Slughorn's."

"James!" James did not reply, and after that Al opened the door and sunk back into his seat with a sigh.

"What was that about?" asked Scor the moment Al had scooped up Phineas and stopped messing with hair.

"James gave Lily a package." supplied Caly whilst Al stared, moodily, out of the window.

"And?" asked Rose, picking up the Charms book.

"Well he waited for Aunt Ginny to be gone before he gave it to her. It was meant to be a secret. I think Al thinks it's dangerous." Scor rolled his eyes.

"No _way_." Caly glared at him and turned to Al.

"Did it ever occur to you that this was what James has been working on all summer?" Al ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"I'm not _that_ dumb, Caly, that's why I called him out on it." Before their conversation could progress any further there was shy knock on their compartment door. There was a general pause in which the four stared at the compartment door, expecting it to slide open, and the person on the other side waited for permission to enter.

"Erm," said Rose. "Come in!" the door slid open and Fawn McDougal stood there, looking a little pink.

"Hey!" she said, a touch breathlessly. "I have something from Professor Slughorn for all of you." she held out her left hand, in which four envelopes, were clutched, and flushed bright red when Al leaned over and took them from her.

"Cheers, Fawn." he said, his voice only slightly cheerful. He handed out the invites, by throwing them, and ripped his own open. "Are you invited?" he asked Fawn, who was still standing in the doorway. She shook her head.

"No, but he did invite Peter, and probably would have asked Sam too if he could make." the other three looked up in surprise. Caly could remember seeing Peter at a couple of Slughorns parties but he hadn't been on the train with them last year.

"Is he okay?" Fawn shrugged.

"He doesn't talk about it. Slughorn stopped inviting him because he didn't think he was going to be anything like his father but now that Mr Finch-Fletchly is all controversial, Slughorn wants in." Scor sighed, tipping his head back against the seat, a look of sadness appearing on his face.

"We'll keep an eye on him." offered Al, and Fawn smiled brightly at that.

"Thank you," she gushed, the breathy quality returning to her voice. "He just…he doesn't really know how to defend himself. He's use to Sam fighting all his battles, but Sam got hurt so he won't be there, and-" she took a huge gulp of air before ploughing on. "-he's already been pushed around by some seventh years and all the Slytherins keep bowing down in the corridors and 'thanking' him." Al nodded, in a sympathetic manner, and Fawn, still faintly blushing, mumbled something about needing to get to Peter and dashed away. The door slammed shut, and Scor burst into hysterics, bent double he clutched his chest as he cackled. Al stared at him, eyes wide in confusion, Rose blinked rapidly and Caly rolled her eyes.

"It's not _that_ funny." she said, and Scor, sucking in a huge breath, shook his head.

"It's not just that, it's just…" he dissolved into more laughter, and Rose frowned, her eyes going to the ceiling as if she was thinking back over the previous events.

"What's going on?" demanded Al, looking between his three friends. "Caly?" Caly just shook her head, watching Scor laugh.

"We should go to Slughorn's." was all she said, and Al grumbled as he got to his feet. Rose pulled Scor up, and suddenly her eyes went wide.

"Oh, _oh_."

"_What_?" Al demanded as they made their way along the train corridor, past the compartments full of students, most of whom turned to stare at them as they passed.

"Just ignore them." muttered Scor in a quiet whisper and Al nodded.

"Yeah I know, but what I _want_ to know is-"

"Oh Al," said Rose, in a kind of reminiscent voice. "I think it's best for you to figure it out for yourself."

* * *

Slughorn's little lunch was practically painless. Naturally, Slughorn made Caly sit next to James who was looking particularly sullen, but she was quite relieved to find that Lily and Hugo weren't there. Al had managed to squish himself next to Peter and Scor had bagged the seat next to that. Rose ended up next to Freddie and looked a little disgruntled because she had noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes that heralded trouble.

"Are you okay?" the question was a whisper from behind a piece of bread so that Slughorn would be none the wiser to their conversation, but James heard it and tilted his head and frowned, in apparent confusion. "With Al." James' gaze flickered to his brother who was busy fending off Slughorn's probing questions on Peter's behalf. James made a noncommittal movement with his head.

"Maybe."

"James?"

"I don't like it when people make assumptions about me, Caly." he fixed her with his brown eyes, and Caly got the point he was making.

"Right, okay then." she sat back a little and took a sip of pumpkin juice. Then she leant forward again. "Did he try to get Lily and Hugo here?" James nodded.

"I warned them off." Caly raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'm not the Big Bad Wolf." The corner of Caly's mouth lifted slightly at that.

"I know," she said softly and James seemed to relax slightly. "you're just an immature, hypocritical, blockhead." James snorted, quite loudly, and managed to inhale his pumpkin juice up his nose. With his coughing, spluttering and choking laughter, James successfully drew the eye of every person in the compartment. Even Freddie, who had been painting some form of powder onto one of the rolls, looked up in surprise. Caly, trying and failing to hide her own laughter, thwacked James on the back.

"I'm okay." he choked, signalling with his right hand for conversation to resume, but he had attracted Slughorn's attention now, and he was watching the interaction between James and Caly with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Ah James, my boy, I thought you were being unnaturally quiet. Entertaining your lady friend, eh." he gave James a wink who missed it because he was busy drinking more pumpkin juice, but Caly, who had been trying to shift away from James, saw it and summoned all her strength so that she did not smash her head into the table out of frustration. James, noticing the look of completely forced politeness on Caly's face, turned to Rose with an expression that read 'help!'. Rose rolled her eyes, knowing that anything Caly or James said or did from this point on would, one way or another, solidify Slughorn's belief that they were secretly in love with each other. With a stifled groan and a muttered "why didn't I pick Ravenclaw? It's only cause I'm in Gryffindor that I'm dumb enough to do this" Rose grabbed the roll that Freddie had been coating in powder and took a huge bite.

The effect was instantaneous. The moment Rose swallowed a great jet of flames shot from her mouth. All the occupants in the room ducked or, in Slughorn's case as he was not in the correct physical shape for any quick movements, conjured a shield. The fire shattered the window of their compartment, barrelled across the hall, causing some fourth year Hufflepuffs to shriek and fall to the floor, and into the next compartment which was full of first years. The little group, which had previously been playing exploding snap, yelled and dived onto the floor as the fire smashed the window and escaped into the air. Rose's mouth fell shut and every occupant in the compartments and the corridor turned to look at her. Rose, with the air of someone withholding a great anger, turned to James.

"James Sirius Potter." she hissed in a falsely calm voice. "I _am_ going to _kill_ you." James shrunk back under the table, and Freddie began to howl with laughter, face on the table he banged his fist against it, his whole body shaking. "And I don't know _what_ you're laughing at, Fred Weasley," Fred sat up, face paling. "don't think I don't know _who_ he got that from. That was a serious damage to school property and your necks are going to be wrung _not_ mine." Freddie looked at James, and they both agreed on what to do next in silence. In a flash the two of them were up and had fled the compartment leaving the occupants in various degrees of hysteria.

"Not to worry." said Slughorn placidly. "this should be fixed up in know time." he waved his wand and all the windows mended instantly. "No harm done then, Miss Weasley, no need for punishment." as he turned to smile kindly at Rose, Caly mouthed 'thank you' from behind his back. When Slughorn had turned to Molly to inquire after Ally's whereabouts Rose mouthed back 'you owe me one.' Caly nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Well, that was certainly entertaining." said Scor as he pulled his school robes over his head. Slughorn's party had broken up not long after the incident with the fire, and they were back in their compartment, changing into their robes and talking over what had happened at the get together.

"That was pretty self-sacrificing." commented Al as he tried to tidy his hair in front of window. "Not to mention insane." Rose shrugged.

"Yeah, well, at least James owes me now. I was getting sick of being in his debt all the time."

"How were you in James' debt?" asked Caly as she tidied her hair back up into a neater ponytail. Rose sighed.

"Freddie liked to hide my books with James and then James would 'find them' and therefore I would owe him." Caly rolled her eyes, those kind of tricks had been played at her home. Rose smoothed out the wrinkles in her robes and retook her seat whilst Al continued to attempt to tame his hair.

"What happened to 'we were born with messy hair and we'll die with messy hair'?" asked Scor as he watched Al with an amused expression. Al scowled.

"Shut up!"

"Seriously, though, what are you doing?" Al turned around and looked down at Scor, a slight frown on his face.

"It's just, everything we do reflects on our parents, right?" Scor paused ever so slightly before nodding.

"Yeah."

"So, I dunno, I figured this year, 'cause everyone's really unhappy with our family we should…I dunno." he trailed off with a shrug and Scor frowned at him whilst Rose and Caly exchanged a puzzled look.

"You're trying to be presentable because you think people might think better of you and your parents?" Al shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest in a defensive manner.

"I know I shouldn't care what everyone thinks but I do, and I let it get to me." he was scowling slightly now. "I just, I don't like it when people criticise my family. I don't want people to say that, I don't know, that _we_ don't care because we do. And James, James can just shake it off, you know. He's so casual about the whole thing. I told you what he said to the mob. I can't do that. It bothers me, and it shouldn't, but..." he trailed off, shrugging and looking out of the window. Rose opened her mouth, trying to find the right words to say but then closed it. Caly looked down at her hands, not sure she really got what Al was saying no matter how much she wanted to. Scor, though, reached across and laid a hand on top of Al's.

"But nothing." he said, quietly but firmly. "You're human Al. People say mean stuff about your family and you care, what's wrong with that? They're your family, you care about them so you care about what they think about them. It's perfectly natural."

"Then why doesn't James-" he began but was cut off by Scor's shaking head.

"Al don't start judging yourself by James, guy's a completely different person."

"And don't think that James doesn't care." said Caly, leaning forward and cutting into the conversation. "I think he really does, he's just can't doesn't know how to show it, not to you." Al frowned, tilting his head to the side.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and both Rose and Scor, too, were looking at her curiously.

"I mean that caring for Lily is easy, right?" Al continued to frown and Caly sighed. "Look this is just a theory, but Lily's a girl, she's three years younger than James which means that, even though she's a Quidditch player, he could probably beat her in a fight. Also, she's his baby sister, and remember what you told me last year - you're his rival." Al's frown began to lift slightly, but she kept talking anyway. "You're a year younger than him, you're a boy and, let's face it, you're kind of scrawny." Al looked offended.

"I am not!"

"You kind of are." pointed out Rose. "For someone who eats more than all of us put together you're freakishly thin."

"Anyway, we've digressed." Al blinked at the word, and then decided to not ask what it meant. "Caly, continue with the point you were making." Caly nodded at Scor before turning back to Al.

"Well the point is, is that James is the older brother, he's meant to look after you but how do you look after someone who's stronger and faster than you. I mean, James must feel pretty helpless, right? We're the ones that landed ourselves in trouble. We're the ones with the enemy and, whilst James managed to get involved, the fact that we don't include him kind of puts him out of the picture." Al's frown cleared up as if suddenly coming to an understanding over what she was saying.

"And that's why he flipped out, right?" Caly nodded.

"I think so." Al pursed his lips.

"I guess I should have figured that out for myself." he muttered quietly. "James is always there for me, when it matters." the corner of Caly's mouth lifted slightly in reassurance as he said that. Rose nodded and Scor just continued to stare at Al. "He came to the dungeons and in the riot he stood up for me when it really counted. I just, I _don't_ trust him. Not like I do you guys and I mean, he's all hot and cold, if you know what I mean?" Rose nodded.

"One moment he's all worried and caring and the next he's physically harming you." Al grimaced and nodded.

"That's why I don't trust him giving a present to Lily because, if Lily is anything, it's naïve and gullible. I don't want to think that James could, possibly, be manipulating her in any way." Caly tilted her head to the side in thought.

"I don't think Lily needs corrupting, Al. She's pretty set in her ways, and the moment she works it out she'll be all over him." Al nodded, but he looked like he was thinking past what she was saying.

"And?" prompted Rose, also catching onto the expression.

"Well, doesn't she seem younger than we were." there was a pause before Scor shrugged.

"I don't think me and Caly are the best measurement of youth. I killed someone when I was seven, remember."

"You didn't-"

"Please Al."

"You'll notice, though, he's stopped using the word 'murder'." Al sighed but nodded at Rose's point.

"Well, whatever." he shrugged, clearly indicating that the topic of conversation was over. The four of them leant back in their seats and where all aware of the awkward silence settling on to them.

"So.." said Scor, drawing out the word in order to break up the silence. "what was that stuff that Freddie put on the food?" Rose rolled her eyes.

"It's a new product. I think it's called 'Dragon's Breath' or something to that effect." Scor nodded and glanced out of the window, spotting a tiny glimmer of orange that indicated Hogsmeade Station was close by.

* * *

Scor slammed the train door behind him after they'd gotten out of their compartment. Lily, Hugo and Billy had jumped out of the one next to them and Al had given Lily a tight hug for reassurance whilst Rose straightened Hugo's robes and Billy taught Scor how to do a fist bump. Hagrid came down the platform, his towering form and lantern drawing all the first years to him like moths to a flame.

"Alright you four?" he called out as Lily threw her arms around him and he patted her head. The four friends, nodded and drew their cloaks tighter around them as chilly gust of wind blew along the platform.

"I don't envy you." muttered Scor to Billy. Billy's eyes went wide and so Scor simply winked at the panicking boy.

"You better get to the carriages," called Hagrid. "Don't want te catch a chill." they nodded and calling their goodbye to the three first years, ran towards the Thestral drawn carriages whilst the wind buffeted them. Scor eyed the Thestrals with a wary expression and climbed in hurriedly, but Caly took a moment to pet the creatures before hopping in after Al, who had managed to fall onto the - thankfully dry - ground, and slamming the door shut.

The carriage bumped along the track up to the castle, and Rose brushed her hair out of her eyes, and Al looked like someone had just dumped a load of black spaghetti onto his head. Scor seemed to be having similar thoughts to Caly in regards to Al's hair because, when he met her gaze, he looked away immediately, fighting off a smirk. They were silent, though, as they rode, and in this silence Caly let her mind wander back to the matter of Procurater and the Ministry of Magic.

Everybody she heard from seemed to agree that it would only be a matter of time before the Death Eaters struck and, if things got out of hand, the public would likely turn on Kingsley before Procurater. It seemed the Kingsley was Procurater's shield on that matter and Caly was sure that, if anything went awry at Hogwarts, he'd axe McGonagall or, possibly, Liann first. She wasn't sure why but she had the feeling that, if Hardingly were to make a move, he would not do it until the Death Eaters had, or the public, had torn themselves to pieces. As Caly had not grown up in the Wizarding world she did not have the same fear of Riddle as the rest of them did, but the mass hysteria that had gripped them in such a short space of time heralded no goodness, she was sure, and it was dangerous.

Another thing that lingered in her mind was that neither Ally or Frank had been on the Hogwarts Express. She was sure it was nothing, maybe something had happened at the Leaky Cauldron, or their father had brought them a day early, but she couldn't help but think that there could be a link between Professor Longbottom's children going missing and the escaped Death Eaters, given what she'd learnt about him. Though, not everything had to be bad, Professor Longbottom could had simply brought them to Hogwarts himself in order to make sure they arrived safely. In fact, that was likely to be the case, the key word there being likely.

* * *

"I hate British weather!" exclaimed Scor as they ran from the carriages into the school. In the relatively short journey between the station and the castle it had begun to rain, but this was as much a light shower as Hogwarts was a cottage. In fact Caly was almost sure she could hear thunder rumbling in the background. Al surveyed the muddy path and the rain that was pouring down in sheets.

"Poor Lily." he muttered. "They're gonna be soaked."

"You don't say." said Scor snidely, though Caly was sure that it was his sopping attire and ruined hair that was making him grumpy.

"Come on," said Rose. "Let's just get into the Great Hall." the four of them trudged, with the rest of the disgruntled students, into the Hall, and were immediately greeted with the warmth of a thousand candles.

"Ah." said Al in contentment as he shrugged off his cloak. "This is better." Caly laughed, quietly, at the look of utter disbelief on Scor's face.

"_Better_?" he questioned, incredulously. "_Better_! I, for one, am still soaked to the bone." Al rolled his eyes.

"See, you're such a pessimist. Gotta look on the bright side once in a while, at least it's warm in here." Scor rolled his eyes muttering something under his breath, and Al just shook his head, turning to say hi to Martin Creevy whilst Caly greeted JP who began to tell her what he'd gotten up to at his family's vineyard that summer.

* * *

The first year's were late. Every person in the great hall was aware of it. At first they'd sat patiently, chatting to their friends and drying off their sopping clothes, but, as the gnawing hunger in their stomachs intensified, the students began to mutter in discontent. Professor McGonagall leant across to Professor Liann who got to her feet and left the room, closing the door gently behind her. The hall fell into an expectant, marginally awkward, silence as they waited for her to come back. She shook her head as she retook her seat and Scor let out a groan, dropping his head onto the table, and Rose began to chew her bottom lip nervously.

"They're fine." Rose looked up as Caly leant across, leaning towards Al, in order to speak to her. Rose nodded and turned her gaze back to the door. Al chewed his bottom lip and glanced around, his eyes meeting James' who was frowning at something Roxie was whispering to him. They stared at each other for a second, and Al gave him a small smile and James' frown deepened.

"Where's Frank?" Al jumped and looked at Scor who was following his gaze but not looking at James. Al frowned and saw that Roxie was sitting with Jay but there was, indeed, no Frank.

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Caly had one eyebrow raised and was frowning with the other, making her look worried and concerned.

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah, but where's Professor Longbottom?" there was a pause in which they scanned the high table.

"Maybe something happened at the Leaky Cauldron?" suggested Al. "Maybe more people were rioting." Caly nodded, about to voice her suspicions when the door opened and Professor Sprout came in, leading the soaking first years inside.

The whole hall winced as one when they saw the first years, shivering and sopping wet coming down the great hall to the front. When Lily passed she shot them an excited smile, but they noticed that Hugo was practically carrying Billy who was drenched from head to toe and shaking so badly he could barely walk.

"What do you reckon happened to him?" whispered Rose in concern as the sorting hat began to sing about unity and the attributes of the different houses.

"Fell in." guessed Scor and Caly nodded in agreement. The song was, thankfully, short and as each first year came up Professor Sprout dried them before they sat on the stool to be sorted. Billy was the fifth person to be sorted, and, even after he'd been dried off, he shook as the hat slipped over his head. He trembled for a total of thirty seconds, Caly was counting, before the hat cried out;

"GRYFFINDOR!" the table got to their feet as one as Professor Sprout pulled the hat off his head and he ran over to their table.

"Budge up," muttered Al, and they squished together to let him sit next to Scor. Scor gave Billy a fist bump and Al gave him a high-five. Caly grinned at him as he borrowed Rose's comb to fix his hair that looked worse than Al's.

They stopped paying attention after that, clapping when the first years came into Gryffindor, but not really focusing on who they were. Lily was shifting from foot to foot and Hugo was messing with his hair as they waited for their names to be called.

"Lily Potter." the silence in the hall became absolute as Lily climbed towards the stool. As she took her seat her gaze fell to them as Professor Sprout lowered that hat onto her head. Al smiled, Scor winked, Rose bit her lip and Caly just gave her a steady, knowing, look. The hat had barely touched her head before it had screamed out

"GRYFFINDOR!" she leapt off the stool to the cheers of Gryffindor house, but Caly noticed, as she stood up, that there were some people that didn't look overly thrilled to have the third Potter in their house. Al hugged her tightly, and then Rose and Caly did the same. Scor clapped her on both shoulders before retaking his seat next to Billy and Al.

When it was Hugo's turn it was only him and a girl that looked a hell of a lot like Kay and Jay so Caly suspected it was their little sister; May, left to be sorted. Hugo was on the stool for a touch longer than Lily, but less than Billy, and soon was sitting opposite Lily. May Wood, Professor Sprout had called her name, sat on the stool for about half a minute before she sat down next to Hugo and, as Al's stomach made rather loud protests against being unfed, Professor McGonagall got to her feet.

"Now I know that the feast has been delayed, slightly, but I think that it is better for me to talk to you before you indulge in our feast and grow weary. Firstly I would like to introduce Professor Rottering-" Caly blinked as she noticed a small man sitting at the end of the table, near Professor Fielding. "-as our new Astronomy Professor." she began to clap her hands together and soon the rest of the hall caught on, most of them having not noticed him either.

"He blends in," muttered Scor and Caly nodded.

"Now, as you are aware, the remnants of Lord Voldermort's old supporters, the Death Eaters, have escaped from Azkbahn prison. You may also be aware of the fact that possible targets of those criminals reside within these walls. However, this does _not_ mean that he is returning. This is _not_ a cause for panic. Fear and paranoia are just as deadly as the killing curse. The magical protection this school has is only as effective when those inside are vigilant and united. Each person, in this hall is a potential victim so any suspicious behaviour should be reported to a member of staff or the prefects and head boy and girl. Stand united with your fellow wizards and witches and they will not penetrate our castle. Now, enjoy the feast."

"That didn't kill the mood at all." muttered Scor as he helped himself to roast chicken and potatoes.

"True, but it was kind of necessary." said Rose as she poured gravy onto her meat. Caly, who was chewing on a parsnip, turned to Billy.

"So, what happened to you?" her other friends also turned to the first years, awaiting their response eagerly. Hugo rolled his eyes.

"There was, like, some major storm going on and Billy nearly drowned." Rose clapped a hand over her mouth whilst Al's dropped open, Scor choked on his chicken and Caly raised her eyebrows. Billy nodded and took a bite of a sausage cautiously.

"Yeah and I'm, like, an okay swimmer but there were _huge_ waves and my robe was dragging me down."

"What happened?" Billy shrugged.

"I'm not really sure 'cause, like, I remember loads of screaming, and I kept going under and people tried to grab me, but I tilted their boat too much so they had to let go. Then I went under again and it was all black and then I was in the boat, again, and we were near the shore."

"How did he get out?" Rose questioned Hugo.

"I'm not sure. Hagrid was brandishing his umbrella, but I think that it was the Giant Squid."

"_What_?" said Scor, half amazed and half incredulous. "The _Giant Squid_, seriously?" Hugo shrugged.

"I dunno, it looked like something black was lifting him out of the water, but it could just have been a shadow or something."

"Are you okay Lily?" Lily looked up when Al had asked her the question. Since she'd been sorted and sat down she hadn't said a word and was moving her food around her plate unenthusiastically.

"Yeah." she said. "I'm just tired." Al nodded, but shot a worried glance at the others. Scor shrugged as if to indicate they couldn't do anything if she didn't talk to them.

* * *

Lily, Billy and Hugo were led away with the other first years by Jeff, and Al, Scor, Rose and Caly followed behind at some distance. They were yawning, but Scor was in a much better mood now that he was dry and fed. Al was walking sluggishly and Scor had to, several times, pull him out of harms way as he nearly collided with people, walls or suits of armour.

"What happened to you?" demanded Scor as Al tripped and fell as they climbed into the portrait hole. "Caly's normally the one that has trouble with portrait hole, being as short as she is, not you." Al shrugged.

"I think I may have taken a bludger too many to the head." he said. "My coordination has been shot all summer." Scor rolled his eyes.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Caly snorted at the look on Al's face, he was glaring at his blonde best friend, and Rose rolled her eyes.

"See you guys tomorrow." she said, sleepily. Scor waved goodbye and then dashed up the stairs because he'd pushed Al into the sofa and he'd lost his balance, sending him sprawling onto Freddie and Kay. Al was set on both his feet by his cousin and chased Scor up the stairs, not bothering to say goodnight to the girls.

"Manners." muttered Rose, shaking her head and Caly giggled. Together they climbed up the stairs to their dormitory. Fawkes was sitting on her bed, preening his feathers, and when he saw her he flew to her shoulder.

"Hey," she said, stroking his plume gently. "did you get wet?" he titled his head at her in a look that could be described as disapproving. "Well you're not exactly making conversation are you?" he rubbed his head into her neck and Caly smiled. Rose, feeling that she was intruding in a very personal moment, took herself into the bathroom with her tooth brush. Caly turned her gaze further onto her phoenix.

"I will be careful. I'm not stupid. They're not even after me." another long silence. "I know but if anything happens I can count on you, right? You'll help me, even if it's stupid?" there was a pause and then he rubbed his head into her neck again. "I'll take that as a yes." Fawkes flapped from her shoulder to the window and she threw it wide open.

"Where are you going?" she asked but, of course, got no response as he swooped out of the window. His scarlet wings acted like a beacon in the night sky and his glorious golden plume shone brighter than any star. Caly smiled, gently, as she watched the light fade away into the darkness.

* * *

The crash in the morning jolted Caly awake. Blinking and rubbing her eyes she fumbled for the gap in the curtains and yanked them open. Blearily she sat up and stared at Rose who had knocked over her trunk and all the books were spilt on the floor. Caly frowned and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"What did you do?" she demanded. Rose, who was hastily stuffing the books she back into her bag, looked up.

"I couldn't find my tie. I knew I'd left it out, and I was looking under my bed and knocked my trunk over." Caly rolled her eyes.

"What's the time?" Rose blinked and shrugged. Caly, sighing, snatched her watch off the bedside table. It was seven thirty.

"What is it?"

"Seven thirty." she said, yawning and stretching.

"Oh." said Rose, running a hand through her bushy hair. "I got you up on time then." Caly snorted and stood up, scraping her hair from her face.

Caly was ready in approximately ten minutes and ended up hunting for Rose's tie along with her. In the end they discovered it in the bathroom, somehow it managed to get into the cupboard above the sink. Caly assumed that Rose must have dropped it there, but Rose was sure there had been some outside intervention; Lily.

When they made it to the common room both Al and Scor were sitting there, talking to Roxie and Jay. They both had frowns on their faces, and Scor had his arms crossed. Roxie looked distressed and Jay, perturbed.

"But I don't understand, you're saying they're in hiding?" Scor shrugged.

"I'm just saying it's a _possibility._ I don't _know_ anything." Jay looked at Roxie who was shaking her head.

"Last time I spoke to him, which was the 31st, he was saying that he was really looking forward to coming back and his dad had been up late planning lessons." Caly and Rose came to stand on either of Al and Scor, also frowning.

"Has Frank not turned up?" Jay shook his head at Caly.

"No, he's still not here. I can't understand _why_."

"You don't think that they've been attacked, or anything?" they were making their way to the portrait hole and Roxie shrugged.

"I'd prefer not to think about it, but I'm starting to think that there aren't that many other possibilities."

"You'd think there'd have been something in _The Evening Prophet_," mused Al. The rest looked at him. "Well, they missed the train so it must have happened in the morning. If there was an attack, you think they'd report it." Scor shook his head.

"Not unless they wanted it kept quiet." Al frowned.

"Why would they do that? People have the right to know if the Death Eaters are wondering around their neighbourhood." Scor rolled his eyes.

"Panic, Al. You saw what happened in Diagon Alley, pure terror. It's about panic and power. The Ministry are controlling what's being printed, and that makes them the most knowledgeable body of people. It doesn't do good for them to have other people running around that know more than them. It undermines them. In times of panic people look up, and listen, to the people that know the most." They all fell silent at Scor's words and continued walking down the staircases in a morose silence.

When they reached the top of the Marble Staircase they found Dom and Marianne waiting for them. Dom's face fell when she noticed that Frank wasn't with them and Marianne chewed her lip nervously.

"Let's see who's at the teachers table. Maybe they're in the Great Hall." nobody bothered to disagree with Al's last ditch attempt at hope, not wanting it to be true that Frank and Ally were missing.

"Yeah," said Roxie hopelessly. "maybe they're having breakfast. Frank'll laugh his head off when he hears we were worrying about him and Ally will fret and apologise." the others nodded and they entered the Great Hall. One look at Molly's face told them all they needed to know. She was sitting with Michael MacDougal and there was a crestfallen look on her face. She shook her head at her cousins and Dom's shoulders sagged. Roxie put an arm around her cousin and Rose looked up at the top table. Professor Longbottom's seat was conspicuously empty. She sighed, looking at the others sadly.

"They're really missing." she said, hopelessly as they took a seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Don't give up," said Al, instantly. "we went missing, twice, and we turned up fine, or thereabouts."

"You know," said Scor helping himself to bacon. "for once, I agree with Al. There's no knowing where they are but that also means there's no way of knowing whether they're in danger. At the moment no news is relatively good news." Caly nodded as she drank a glass of milk.

"Scor and Al are right. There's no point giving up and there's no point worrying. Professor Longbottom is a war hero. He can take care of himself, and I'm sure Ally and Frank are more than capable."

"But what about Howard and Matilda?" asked Rose. "They're only nine." Caly chewed the inside of her lip.

"I'm sure they'll be looked after." Rose nodded, and they ate in silence for a moment before Al decided to make conversation again.

"This means we're getting a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." he said and Rose nodded.

"That should be interesting. I hope they're nice." Scor chewed and nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, no more murderous or discriminating teachers." They sat there for a little bit, waiting for whoever was taking over Gryffindor house to come and give them their timetables. Scor let out a groan when Professor Liann began making her way down the table. Rose raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think she'll say anything." Scor just shrugged and Al flicked scrambled egg at his head. Scor glowered at him and Al grinned, innocently, back. There was a short pause in which Caly moved her plate out of the firing line and Rose picked up _The Prophet_ . Then more egg landed in Scor's hair and soon a full scale food fight had erupted between the two boys. Lily, Hugo and Billy, who were sitting a little way down the table were watching the proceedings with wide-eyed interest.

"Professor?" Scor and Al both froze when Rose, having set down the paper with a frown, had turned to the teacher now standing behind them, surveying the food with a raised eyebrow. Scor turned scarlet, and Al, whose back was to Professor Liann, wrapped his arms around his sides, and Caly could see the grin he was trying incredibly hard to suppress. Liann, moving her gaze from the two boys, looked at Rose.

"Yes, Miss Weasley."

"Are you the new head of Gryffindor?"

"No." Scor, who had previously been hiding his head on the table, looked up in surprise.

"If you're not they why are you handing out the timetables?" the second he asked his question he seemed to regret it and hurriedly looked away. The look on Professor Liann's face was startlingly neutral and she directed the response at Scor.

"Because your new head, who is your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, has yet to arrive."

Scor nodded and she handed the timetables to the four third years.

"Do you know what happened to Professor Longbottom?" asked Al as he glanced over his. Professor Liann shook her head.

"No and if I did I probably wouldn't be allowed to tell you." She gave them all a tight, but sympathetic, smile before moving on. Rose sighed in annoyance, and then turned to examine her timetable.

"Oh!" she said in startled surprise. "We have Defence Against the Dark Arts first, and then _new_ _subjects_!" she sounded absolutely delighted, and Al skirted away from her, looking horrified. Caly glanced down at her timetable and saw that she did, indeed, have Defence Against the Dark Arts first, followed by Arithmancy. Then, after break, she had Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology and after lunch it was Ancient Runes. In fact her timetable didn't look so bad;

_Monday: DADA - Arithmancy - Break - CoMC - Herbology - Lunch - Ancient Runes_

_Tuesday: Potions - Herbology - Break - Transfiguration - Ancient Runes - Lunch - Charms_

_Wednesday: Charms - DADA- Break - Arithmancy - Potions - Lunch - CoMC_

_Thursday: Transfiguration - Arithmancy - Break - Charms - DADA- Lunch - Ancient Runes_

_Friday: Herbology - Potions - Break - Transfiguration - CoMC - Lunch - Free - Dinner - Astronomy_

_Gryffindor: Astronomy_

_Mixed Class: Arithmancy+Ancient Runes_

_Gryffindor&Ravenclaw: DADA+Transfiguration_

_Gryffindor&Hufflepuff: Herbology+CoMC_

_Gryffindor&Slytherin: Potions+Charms_

"This is quite good." said Scor, is eyes scanning his own." Caly looked over his shoulder and saw that it was identical accept for when she had Arithmancy he had Muggle Studies.

"_Quite good_!" exclaimed Al, who sounded faint. "Have _seen_ how many lessons we have _per day_."

"Yeah, we have five." said Scor, straight faced.

"I'm dead," muttered Al. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Looks like you'll be doing some of your own work this year." Al frowned and Rose rolled her eyes. "None of us are doing Divination, Al." Al groaned and sank his head onto the table.

"Oh no."

"Hey, Al." said Scor suddenly. "What happened to 'keeping up appearances'?" Al frowned at his best friend.

"Say what?" he asked, confused. Scor rolled his eyes.

"You know the whole acting presentable thing." Al blinked and then sat up completely straight.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed. "I forgot." Scor rolled his eyes.

"You can start again tomorrow, eh?" Al nodded, and Rose shook her head.

"If you want people to respect you, Al, you may have to refrain from having food fights." Al sighed and prodded his tongue out at her which caused the other three to laugh.

"And from doing that!" said Caly through her giggles as Al pouted and then swung his bag onto his shoulder as if to storm out of the room in a great huff, but the others, having finished breakfast too, collected up their timetables and followed his lead, causing him to cross his arms across his chest and grumble about out-smarting people all the way up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class room.

* * *

They shared Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws, and, as Caly looked around the classroom at the people in the other house, she was startled by how little she knew about students she'd spent the past two years living and working with. In fact, the only one she could name was Emma Corner who was seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and played against Al. She was sitting next to a boy that was tall and had curly brown hair.

"That's Mia's little brother." said Al quietly and Caly raised her eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Caly looked back at the boy and could honestly say that she would not have made the connection had Al not told her.

"They don't look very similar." said Caly quietly and Al shrugged.

"Hey." said Scor, leaning across to the two of them. "We never asked Emma about the game."

"Huh?" said Al, scrunching up his face in confusion.

"Remember," said Rose, leaning across from her seat at the other end of the table. "what Martin told us."

"Oh yeah!" said Al and Caly frowned.

"It doesn't matter anymore though, does it." Rose shrugged and Scor replied.

"I guess not but it would be quite nice to know why she did it." Caly nodded and Al titled his head as if to say he wasn't really bothered either way. Before Rose could say whatever she was about to the door flew open and their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher strode in. Every mouth in the room dropped open in shock.

Harry came striding through the classroom doors. His jet black hair, as always, was an utter mess and his wire glasses with circular frames, identical to Al's, were somewhat askew. His smart, black, robes seemed to have been thrown on hastily and the wan smile on his face did not help to detract from his pale complexion and dark rimmed eyes. The only thing about him that looked ordinary was the slight twinkle in his emerald eyes as he surveyed the back row where each member sat, mouths agape, unable to understand the sight in front of them. Most eyes were either trained on him or the four at the back, most wondering whether this was a practical joke of Professor Longbottom's.

"Good morning." he said, throwing his travelling cloak, which had previously been draped over his right arm, onto the back of the chair. There was a faint murmur in reply and he grinned properly, as if understanding why this was unexpected. He set his briefcase down on the desk and surveyed the class.

"Okay then. You're Ravenclaw," he said, noting the crests on the uniform. "and, of course, Gryffindor." there were timid nods from most of the class. "Good, now I think, simply for the sake of my abnormally large family, it would be best to just call me Professor Harry." most people raised their eyebrows at that, and Harry shrugged. "I'm not a Professor, I'm an auror so I don't really go in for formalities anyway." there were some brief nods, and he smiled, taking a seat on the edge of his desk. "Right, you all seem to be in shock so I'll capitalise on this moment of good behaviour to get as much information out of you that I can. Okay, how many of you can disarm?" every hand apart from Caly's shot up. "Everyone?"

"Not me!" said Caly sticking her hand up in the air and Harry craned his neck to see her.

"Yeah, not unexpected and you might wanna try sitting at the front, Caly, you're kind of hard to see." Caly rolled her eyes whilst most of the class chuckled. "Okay you've learnt about creatures, I think I pretty much know about that. Was it kappas and red kaps and hinkypunks?" there were nods from the class. "Yeah, thought so. Can anyone stun?" Al's solitary hand went into the air. "Okay, well, that looks like a good place to start. I'll talk to McGonagall as soon as possible, but I'm afraid your needs are rather sidelined by the needs of the NEWT and OWL students." he sighed and rubbed his hands together, looking at the clock.

"Oops, I was late. You know what I don't want to spend time stunning and not getting anywhere so we're gonna have a discussion." the Ravenclaws, and Rose and Scor, sat up as one. Al sank down in his chair so that he was shorter than Caly. "Well, I'll give you a question that we ask all those applying to be aurors, what makes somebody evil?" A couple of Ravenclaw hands shot into the air. "Yes you, what's your name?"

"Emma Corner." Harry nodded.

"Oh, I know your parents. Go on, then." Emma took a deep breath.

"An evil person is someone who kills and steals and breaks the law." Harry nodded.

"So evil person is someone who breaks the set of laws of society. Anyone got something to say?" a couple of hands went down as the Ravenclaws began to think, but Caly and Scor's shot up.

"Err," said Harry, keen avoid the topic with Scorpius. "Caly."

"Not all people that kill are evil. That's why there's manslaughter and murder."

"What?" asked Martin, looking at her with wide eyes and Caly sighed.

"Manslaughter is when kill you someone by accident. It's when you didn't plan to kill them it just happened. Murder is when plan the killing, it's premeditated."

"So are you saying premeditated murder is evil?"

"No." she said, shaking her head and most of the class looked up in surprise. "because there's a whole range of factors that could make you plan to kill someone and, also, if you take pleasure in killing you're probably mentally unwell. And then there's how you react after the act."

"You mean remorse?" Caly looked at Emma who had a raised eyebrow.

"Yes."

"You believe in redemption?" Harry sat leant back slightly, watching the discussion unfold.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, fundamentally, anyone could murder. There isn't a gene or whatever inside either of us stopping us from killing someone. Anyone could be a murderer, it depends on the situation."

"So if murder doesn't make you evil, what does?" Harry posed the question to the class in general and Rose put her hand up, nervously. "Rose." Rose took a deep breath.

"Hatred." this got a lot of raised eyebrows.

"Hatred?" Rose nodded.

"Unfounded hatred. I'm not talking about your hatred for people like Voldermort because that's justifiable, but I'm talking about prejudice and stuff." Harry nodded at his niece whilst Mia's brother broke in.

"So if you're racist you're evil." Rose and Harry frowned as one.

"Sorry, name?"

"Norman Boot."

"Oh Mia's brother, I know _your_ parents as well." Norman shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Go on."

"Right." said Norman scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I think that the word prejudice has been misused. Prejudice is formed because you make an opinion before you know something about it. It's like saying all muggles are stupid before you've met any, and that's lie, plain as day and you're prejudiced, but you're not _evil_."

"Yes but-"

"Now I know what you're going to say, Rose, but prejudice can _fuel_ hatred. It doesn't make you evil, it just makes you stupid." Rose opened her mouth to respond when Scor cut across her.

"Basically an evil person cannot be defined because evil is not an objective thing. There are no parameters that can define you as evil. Sure there are things that you might do that people might _think_ are evil, but, in the end, it comes down to opinion. What we call 'evil' is based on the majority, and expectations we have, in our society." Harry nodded.

"Thank you, Scorpius, I was hoping someone would say that. Evil is _not_ objective. The great thing about this debate is that there is no right or wrong, it depends on your point of view. Your answer depends on how you look at things in the world."

"Professor Potter."

"Harry, Professor Harry." Emma nodded.

"Sorry, Professor Harry, what's the point of this?" Harry frowned, biting down on his lip and stared hard at her for a second.

"The point is that I _could_ teach you how to fight a dark wizard. I _could_ teach you how to protect yourself against anything. I _could even_ teach you how to legally take someone to within an inch of their life, but I'm not going to. For one some of those things are out of your ability and secondly on of the greatest weapons you have against 'evil' is mercy. Never underestimate the power of mercy. It's quite an incredible thing." at that moment the bell went and Harry jumped.

"Erm…no homework today, except, just have think about what we've said. I plan to carry on this discussion some time." there were nods, and everyone that had taken out their books, like Rose and Scor, swept them into their bags and filed out of the classroom.

"Wait." said Al. "I want to talk to dad, for a sec." he walked up to the front of the classroom and stopped before his father's desk. "Dad?" Harry, who had been taking some things out of his briefcase, looked up.

"I'm afraid it's Professor Harry from now on Al." Al rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Look, I just wanted to ask, why are you here?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"To cover for Neville." Al rolled his eyes again.

"I know _that_. I mean why _you_?" Harry sighed and looked at his son and three friends.

"Two reasons. One, I have just brought the security inside of the castle to a new level, and two, Procurater wants me out of the way. Pick up _The Evening Prophet_ tonight, that'll tell you pretty much all you want to know." Al frowned but nodded. The four of them made their way to the classroom door before Scor turned back.

"You don't know where Professor Longbottom and the others are, do you?" the sixth years were beginning to file in, many gaping in shock at the man before them and Molly dropped her books out of surprise, and Harry, almost imperceptibly, shook his head.

* * *

Caly dashed into Arithmancy just on time. Professor Crasson had his back to the door and was writing on the board as she slipped into a seat next to Peter. He turned to her and smiled, lightly, as Professor Crasson turned back around.

"Right." said Professor Crasson, his voice brisk. "Who has any understanding of what Arithmancy is?" a couple of hands shot into the air and she saw that she was, once again, sharing the lesson with Norman Boot and Emma Corner. "Miss Corner?"

"Arithmancy is a method divination by numbers." Professor Crasson sighed.

"I did not ask _what_ it was, you got that straight from the textbook, I asked if you _understood_. What does divination by numbers _mean_?" Norman's hand went back up.

"It means you use the numbers to do with places and people to work out things about them." Professor Crasson shook his head, wearily.

"I am _not_ asking for a definition of Arithmancy here. I want who _understands_ the concept. What can and cannot be achieved. Does anybody even _understand_ what I'm asking?" there was not a single nod or raised hand. Professor Crasson sighed. "Did anybody here attend a muggle primary school?" a couple of hands, including Caly's, went tentatively into the air. "Miss Hautly, what did you learn about numbers there?"

"Um…" said Caly, thinking. "I learnt how add and subtract and stuff, with them."

"No I'm not asking what did with them. I'm asking what know _about _them. What do know about the number 7, for example?"

"Erm…" said Caly, shrugging. "it's odd."

"Precisely, and why is that?" Caly shrugged.

"I don't know, sir." Professor Crasson nodded.

"You see before you can _truly_ appreciate Arithmancy you must _understand_ numbers. Only _then_ can you _truly understand_ Arithmancy." the entire class blinked up at him in shock. He turned to the board and drew a huge number 1 on it. "Let's start with the beginning shall we."

* * *

"I did not get _a word_ he said!" said Peter as he and Caly left the Arithmancy class together. Caly nodded. Whatever point Professor Crasson had been trying to make had passed straight over her head.

"It made no sense." she agreed as she stuffed the huge volume of _Numerology and Gramatica _back into her bag.

"How do you write an essay on the number 1?" demanded Peter and Caly shook her head.

"No idea." Peter sighed and bit his lip.

"Fancy meeting up in the library? I get the feeling I _won't_ be able to do this on my own." Caly nodded.

"Sure, I'll see you there around 6?"

"6:30." said Peter. "I have to make sure that Fawn eats properly." Caly raised an eyebrow as they stepped into the courtyard.

"What's wrong with her?" Peter shrugged.

"I don't know, but, according to her parents, she's barely eating _anything_." Caly eyed Fawn from a distance as she stood and talked to Al. She did look, now that she was in her school robes, rather pale and peaky. Her uniform certainly looked like it had grown two sizes over the summer.

"I see." Peter nodded and they joined the group.

"How was Arithmancy?" asked Rose, looking up from her Muggle Studies textbook.

"Confusing." she replied. "How about Muggle Studies?" Rose grinned, broadly.

"Brilliant. Professor Fielding has already set us a project of _our choice_ to see how much we can learn about Muggles. We're going to study electricity and all of their crazy ideas and theories." Caly frowned at her best friend, but didn't comment on what she'd said.

"It was a good lesson." commented Scor. "Professor Fielding is…_enthusiastic_." he shook his head. "You should have _seen_ some of the stuff he showed us. He wrote a book on how to interact with a muggle without giving away the fact you're a wizard." Caly rolled her eyes.

"It's not hard."

"Maybe for you Caly, but most wizards and witches struggle to hide the fact that they don't know what anything in the muggle world is." Caly rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

* * *

After that the six of them, Peter and Fawn deciding to stick with them, made their way across the sloping grounds the Hagrid's hut. The rest of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were assembling there and they made sure to find a spot away from McMillan and Smith. However, the two burly Hufflepuffs made their way over. Scorpius stiffened, thinking they were going to pick a fight with him, but, instead, they pushed Peter over, sending him sprawling into Rose's arms.

"Hey _Flinch_-Fletchly. How's daddy? Did he kill anybody else today?" Peter winced as Rose righted him.

"N…no."

"_N…no_." mocked Smith and Fawn crossed her arms.

"Leave us alone."

"Oh, it's _Retch_ woman." Fawn went scarlet and Al pulled out his wand.

"Go _away_!" McMillan sneered at Al.

"You really think highly of yourself, don't you Potter."

"You know." said Rose, coolly. "I remember a time when _you_ wanted to be _our_ friend." Smith snorted.

"If you want to consort with scum like _that_-" he gestured than Scor. "-than you can count us out."

"Brilliant! Then get out of our faces."

"You can't tell me what to do, Potter, I make up my own mind, and I don't like _that_ being near me." Scor's wand was out in a flash and the rest of the class had turned to watch the argument.

"Come on." said Caly, stepping between the four boys. "Hagrid's going to come out any moment and we'll _all_ be in trouble." McMillan sneered some more.

"I don't care about school rules."

"What happened to Hufflepuffs being kind?" asked Rose, stepping up to stand by Caly.

"We are doing this for the better." said Smith, as if explaining something simple to a two year old. "The Malfoy boy is _obviously_ going to sell us out to his Death Eater pals." Al burst into derisive laughter, and Caly shook her head.

"Can you guys not read? Scor's in more danger than all of us. They're out for his blood."

"Then I say we through him to the wolves."

"_That_ sounds awfully like something a Slytherin would say." said Al, evenly. "What happened to loyalty?"

"I am being loyal. You can't save everyone, Potter, you should know that. I say we protect the masses." Al raised an eyebrow, lowering his wand. He pushed Scor's outstretched arm down and stepped up between the girls.

"How do you know that, McMillan? What _experience_ do you have?" there was a silence in which McMillan said nothing. "You know, I know, far better than you, that you _can't_ save everyone, but what happens if you don't _try_? Oh, look someone's dying by the side of a road, but I can't save everyone so I won't _try_. If you don't _try_ then there's no point fighting. Just get out of my face before I _actually_ lose my temper with you." They never discovered whether McMillan was threatened by Al because Hagrid opened his cabin door and came out with some large crates.

"Alright!" he said calling everyone's attention to him. "Now I'm gonna start with summin' boring, but yer need to learn how to keep an animal alive so it's best fer yer to start with summin' simple." he opened the great and he grinned. "Flobberworms." he said and some of the class groaned. "I know, I know, but it's best ter mess up with creatures like this. So grab a worm and work out what it likes best."

The lesson was dull. Caly was one of the few girls that didn't find the worm disgusting, which she found quite amusing, and it didn't take long to work out that the worm only ate lettuce. Though Caly had to admit that calling it 'eating' was a bit of a stretched definition of the word seeing as you had to force the lettuce through the hole that were at both ends.

"Why did McMillan call you 'Retch woman'?" demanded Peter after the six of them had settled a little way away from the rest of the class. Fawn went red and attempted to stuff more lettuce into her Flobberworm.

"Careful." Caly caught her wrist. "I don't think it's finished with the stuff you gave it a second ago." Fawn turned red again and nodded.

"Fawn?" said Peter, his tone making it clear that he wasn't dropping the subject anytime. Fawn bit her lip and shook her head. Caly opened her mouth to ask her something before shutting her mouth frowning. Rose caught the action and frowned at her. Caly shook her head.

The lesson passed more quickly once Al had moved the conversation onto the topic of Quidditch. Peter was excited about the upcoming season as he was playing chaser now. His brother was Quidditch captain and they'd spent most of the summer practising. Fawn, who wasn't interested in Quidditch, but had been sitting next to Al in Muggle Studies started asking Caly for help on the project that they'd been set. Caly encouraged Fawn to look at muggle transport because that would means she could look at boats _and_ planes _and _cars.

* * *

After they'd put away the Flobberworms they hurried across the grounds to Herbology which was another easy lesson with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout began to talk about tropical plants, and Caly half-listened and half-inspected the plants around her. They were all ones she had only seen in books and began working on making them like her as opposed to listening about how it was dangerous to harvest plants that animals were eating, nearby, because - honestly - that was common sense. She could see that Scor was staring at Professor Sprout with raised eyebrows, as if he couldn't believe what he was being told. Al was drawing on a bit of paper, but Rose was paying avid attention.

"That was a waste of time." said Scorpius as he hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. Rose frowned.

"What are you talking about? That was important."

"Come on, Rose." said Al, rolling his eyes. "Even _I_ knew not to do half those things." Caly sighed as Rose looked at her.

"I hate to agree with Scor on this, but I have to." she shook her head. "Who does those things?" she looked amazed and Scor snorted.

"People like Al, they go 'ooh pretty flower I'll pick it, the animal won't mind.'" Al couldn't help cracking up along with Scor and Caly. Rose fought hard to suppress her smile.

"Oh alright, but still, we could be tested on it."

"That would be a pointless test." said Scor. "People will remember them but they're bound to get confused and go 'oh I thought we _were_ meant to anger the Chimera'." Rose fought the laughter for a second before breaking down into giggles.

"Okay, okay." she said, raising her hands. "I give up." Scor nodded at her.

"Of course, my logic is flawless."

"Yeah right." they made their way into the Great Hall and were immediately cornered by James, Lily, Hugo and Billy.

"Please tell me that Molly and Roxie are lying." begged James as they pushed past to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

"About what?" said Al, casually. James let out a frustrated groan.

"You know _what_. That _dad_ is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Oh," said Scor, his eyes seemingly lighting up. "you mean Professor Harry?" James glared at him.

"They weren't joking," said Billy faintly.

"Of course." said Al. "Molly doesn't have a very good sense of humour." James bashed his head against the table. Lily groaned.

"This is going to suck." Al raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Dad isn't going to let us have any fun." Al frowned.

"When did you call him dad?" he demanded. "He was _always_ daddy." Lily huffed and marched off. Hugo rolled his eyes before he and Billy followed her. Al raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I appear to have touched a nerve." Scor snorted.

"She'll get over it," assured Rose, and James sat up.

"She's been weird since the sorting. I don't get why she's upset? She _really wanted_ to be in Gryffindor." Caly frowned and looked at Scor who shrugged.

"Maybe there's someone in her year she doesn't like." James' eyes darkened.

"If someone's bullying her…"

"You'll go and beat them up with ease because they're a first year." James turned his glare on Al.

"Well at least I'm worrying about her." Al rolled his eyes.

"If you're worried than why don't you just go and act like a normal person and _ask her_ what's wrong." James stood up and walked away abruptly. Al blinked. "What's wrong with my family?" Scor shrugged.

"Maybe they're just having a bad day." Al nodded but his frown didn't leave until he set off to divination with Fawn, who had come over to them rather timidly with Peter and asked if any of them were doing it.

* * *

"So Ancient Runes." Professor Annah stood before her class. "It's harder than many of you are probably thinking. Runes are like learning a whole new language. They have meanings and there is a certain degree of interpretation to this. It is important to remember that, when studying them, that the people who wrote in them lived thousands of years ago. Their civilisation and ours differ in many ways so something that may not make sense might not, necessarily, mean your translation is wrong. Everyone understand?" there were nods from the class. "Good." she opened her book. "I want all of you to find a rune. I want you to examine it and try to understand _why_ they made it the rune of what it is." Caly opened her Rune Dictionary and flicked through to _Wunjo_; the rune of joy. It looked like a capital 'P' except that it wasn't rounded.

It was another lesson of frustration as Caly couldn't see the logic in the runes. They did not seem to be any connection between the rune and the meaning. Professor Annah did not seem discouraged and explained that nobody got it straight away. She let them leave, but not before giving them the task of learning ten runes of their choice and their meanings.

"These subjects are _so_ annoying." muttered Peter as they made their way back down to the great hall. "I don't get any of it."

"Arithmancy bad too, huh?" asked Scor and Peter immediately launched into how they had to 'understand' the number one. Scor screwed up his face as Peter talked, as if he were in pain. "Okay, that's bad." he said as they made their way towards the Gryffindor table. He waved goodbye to them and they took a seat. Glancing up at the high table it was weird to see Harry in conversation with Professor Slughorn, like nothing was happening.

"Hey guys!" Al had appeared from nowhere, clutching a paper in his left hand.

"How was divination?" asked Rose as he sat down. Al shrugged.

"Trelawney is weird. Apparently I'm going to suffer great hardships and I'm going 'love and be loved by one and the same' for eternity." Scor raised his eyebrows.

"Well you're not having a teenage rebellion." Al rolled his eyes.

"That's what Michael said but she was, like, no it's not his parents but 'one that is shrouded in veils of preconception', whatever the hell that means." Rose snorted.

"I told you it was a waste of time."

"Yeah, anyway. I grabbed this." he held a copy of _The Evening Prophet_. Scor snatched it and spread the front page out on the table. Leaning over Caly could see a picture of Neville and Hannah with their children outside of the Leaky Cauldron. It was obviously taken sometime ago because Howard and Matilda were only toddlers and Ally didn't look older than ten. Frowning she read the headline;

_**The Lostbottoms**_

"Oh ha ha." muttered Scor darkly, and Caly couldn't help but agree. The pun wasn't in anyway funny as it was obviously meant to be.

"Shh." hissed Al. "I'm trying to read." Scor rolled his eyes but didn't comment.

_Today it has been confirmed that Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and war-hero Neville Longbottom, along with his wife - the owner of the Leaky Cauldron - and children, has disappeared. There has been no sighting of Professor Longbottom since Saturday evening when he and his wife closed up the pub together shortly after midnight. There are no signs of a struggle at their home, but it is uncertain whether or not they have left of their own accord. _

_In a surprising turn of events the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was filled by Harry Potter, head auror and personal friend of the Longbottoms. Mr Potter was unavailable for comment, but Ernest Procurater, new Minister for Magic, gave this statement;_

"_It was I that recommended Harry took the post at Hogwarts. He was, of course, keen to head the search for his friend but I was worried their could be a conflict of interest and that it would be best for him to cover his teaching role. I believe that he will be an adequate substitute for he has more than enough experience with defensive magic." _

_On how he felt about the safety of the children would be affected by Potter's presence, the Minister said;_

"_I am certain that Harry's presence will only act as a stronger deterrent against the Death Eaters trying to break in. This is the man that defeated their master, I'm sure they'll think twice before crossing paths with him again." _

_Another unexpected move by the Minister was to replace the role of head auror with, not the Deputy Weasley but Auror Sloane, an experienced auror who was part of the first task first sent to round up the Death Eaters at the end of the second war but she has been confined to desk duty since an incident ten years ago in which aid arrived too late to save her leg. She was Potter's main competition for the top job and there were many mutterings of favouritism when Weasley became second-in-command. Weasley has, however, been suspended pending further inquiry due to his behaviour after the announcement at the Ministry that Potter would be teaching and Sloane would take over. _

_In an exclusive interview with the Prophet, Sloane has revealed how she thinks and feels about getting the top job. _

"_Well, of course, it's quite like a dream come true. As I can't do field work anymore I was beginning to feel the work that I was doing wasn't paying off. That other people were taking all the credit because they were catching the criminals. Of course, I do wish that circumstances were different. I know Neville personally as he helped in the clean up after the war and it's a dreadful thing that this is happening to him and his family. Rest assured, though, we _will_ find them." _

_When asked of her opinion on Potter and Weasley she was surprisingly mild in her words;_

"_I think Harry's a very good leader. He has almost unparalleled experience. These days he's probably the best we've got so I can understand why he'd go to Hogwarts. They're going to need all the help they get and having one of the best aurors out there is certainly going to help. I was disappointed when he was chosen over me but I wasn't that surprised. I was more surprised when Ron became his deputy but he's a good sidekick to Harry. I was only surprised, I think, because he wasn't really in the running. He was short-listed but no one thought he was going to get it, he was backing Harry, but once you've watched them fight together you understand. They are an amazing team. They fight like one and I guess it's all about experience. I think the choice was a good idea, but Ron's not the same as Harry so I can understand why Ernest doesn't want him leading the aurors. Ron's much more rash, he showed that today. I'm not upset by what he said, Neville's a good friend of his and I'm sure he just felt angry about his wife having to resign. I'd be more than happy to have him back in my taskforce when he's calmed down a bit. I may even keep him as my second-in-command, we'll see." _

_On how she was going to change things she gave a brief reply;_

"_I don't think Harry's done a bad job. Of course the thing I really need is a meeting with Kingsley but that's going to be hard to arrange. If Neville and his family have been taken then I'm going to bump up the numbers in Kingsley's squad." _

_And finally, if she did do that would she add Teddy Lupin to the force? Lupin, whose mother was an auror and father briefly taught Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, is widely acknowledged in the Ministry as the best auror trainee to come through the program in a long while. _

"_No," is all she said to that. "I agree with Kingsley." _

_Shacklebolt did not take Lupin because he thought he was conflicted as Dolohov - one of the escaped criminals - is responsible for the murder of Lupin's father. _

_For more information on the Death Eaters see page 4. For news on Weasley's resignation turn to page 3-_

Rose flipped into the inside story and saw a picture of her mum pushing past the flashing bulbs to reach a fire place. Rose's lips tightened. Caly frowned and began to read.

_**Upheaval Continues as Weasley Resigns from her Post.**_

_Hermione Weasley nee Granger today resigned from her job as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after a series of complaints about sackings that have been made. She resolutely stated that the decision to fire those that were was not hers, despite the fact her signature was on each document. She has refused any further comment, but she says that she would be more than happy to face an inquiry if he (Procurater) wanted one. _

_This happened just after the Longbottom family were reported missing but before Potter was asked to fill his role as teacher. It is believed that this is what sparked Ronald Weasley's indignant outcry that ended him with him being physically removed from the Ministry. _

_Her replacement was named as Ralf Hemming, her direct subordinate. Hemming was unavailable for comment, but a statement was released from the department;_

"_Those that have been unjustly removed from their jobs are being called back for revaluation and there is a high chance they will get their jobs back. There is no reason that, after all this has been cleared up, Hermione cannot return to the department as she is an invaluable member with a wealth of experience." _

Rose closed the paper looking scared. Al was gnawing at his bottom lip, face sunk into a frown. Scor ran a hand through his light blonde hair. Caly looked at the picture of the smiling Longbottom family.

"Oh Merlin." whispered Rose. "What's happening?"

"Procurater." whispered Scor. "He's getting your parents out of the way and replacing them with people who work for him." Caly nodded, and Al looked up at the high table. His dad was watching him. Two pairs of green eyes locked; one pair solemn and the other questioning. Harry gave his son a nod. Al looked back at his friends.

"This is just the beginning."


	4. Communications

_**Dear Readers,**_

_**I owe you, once again, a huge apology in the delay for updating. I don't really have an excuse this time because this has just been sitting around in my computer - completed**** - for some time! Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you still have the patience to put up with my incredibly sporadic updating. **_

_**Fingers crossed for a quicker update next time!  
Sopphires.**_

* * *

Communication

It didn't take long for things at Hogwarts to fall into some sort of uneasy routine. There was still great deal of fear and uncertainty in the air, but at the same time once life began to flow in the castle it was hard to worry about anything going on outside of the grounds what with the almost overwhelming stream of homework and the seemingly baffling lessons.

Caly found that, this year, the step up from what they'd been doing previously was far greater. She supposed that part of that had to do with the months of school that they'd missed because, despite the first weeks of their break being spent desperately working to pass the exams, at the end of their first year they'd spent the lessons _after _the exam getting ready for second year, and she had no doubt that it would have been the same again.

Her elective subjects, however, were proving the most difficult. Care of Magical Creatures hadn't been one she'd chosen, but after the first couple of lessons she wished it was still optional because she'd give _anything _to trade it for Arithmancy. Her and Peter had taken to staring, blankly, at Professor Crasson as he almost _ranted_ about the number one. The only time it made any sense to her at all was when he began to talk about the symbol for number one in ancient runes. Other than that her and Peter slaved away on the essays for several hours to barely scrape A's.

In fact it was after she came out of one of the study sessions with Peter and was climbing the stairs up to the Gryffindor common that she came across James. She stopped when she saw him, several steps above her, and scrubbing the floor with a vicious look on his face. Frowning slightly she jogged up the last steps and came to a stop by him.

"Hi James!" James jumped and looked up at her.

"Oh, hey." he sounded rather despondent and Caly sat down on the step next to him.

"What are you doing?" James held up the rag, frown on his face.

"What does it look like?" he snapped and Caly held up her hands.

"Okay, _why_ are you doing it?" James threw the rag into the bucket and sat down next to her.

"Dad put me in detention." Caly raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"'Cause I haven't done any homework for the past week and a bit." Caly sighed.

"Well you can't blame him, can you? I mean he's a teacher now, and Procurater's watching the school. The last thing Uncle Harry needs is cries of favouritism." James sighed.

"I guess, but, still, did he have to give me something so…so…"

"So what?" James crossed his arms across his chest and scowled.

"Humiliating." Caly tilted her head to the side. "Do you know how many people have seen me scrubbing the floors?" Caly didn't reply, instead allowing him to keep ranting. "You know I have a reputation and dad knows that and it's like he just stomped all over it…on purpose." Caly sighed.

"Isn't that the point of punishment, though? You're not _meant_ to enjoy it."

"Yeah, but there's a different between making someone order books in alphabetical-date order and making someone look like a fool 'cause they're scrubbing the floor in front of the rest of the school." Caly shrugged, not really knowing what to say. She just sat with James in silence before he broached conversation first. "Caly can you do me a favour?" Caly raised her eyebrows in surprise but tilted her head to the side to indicate that he should keep talking. "Will you…would you talk to Lily for me?" Caly paused, frowning and biting her lip.

"Why?"

"'Cause you must have noticed that she's not herself - Billy and Hugo don't know what's up, but they're fine." Caly frowned, crossing her arms across her knees and resting her chin on it.

"I don't understand why _you_ don't talk to her?"

"Because she won't let me. She hasn't said _a word_ directly to me since I saw her on the train." Caly bit her lip, thinking. "Please, Caly. I'll do your Charms homework for you."

"You take Muggle Studies and, what, again?"

"Divination, 's a doss."

"Damn," she muttered. "I was hoping you'd do my Arithmancy essay for me, or, failing that, Ancient Runes."

"Sorry, no can do, but if you're stuck on either of those you should talk to Lycan."

"Who?" she asked, twisting her head so that she was staring at him, and arching her eyebrows.

"Lycan - Lorcan and Lysander."

"Oh." said Caly, nodding in understanding. "I see. Very clever, who came up with that?"

"Me of course."

"Well that explains everything."

"Hey!" James gave her a good natured shove and Caly laughed loudly.

"Okay…I'll talk to Lily, but not because of the homework…but only because I can't deny that I'm worried about her too." she got to her feet and wiped her hands, which were slightly damp, on her skirt.

"Thanks." James shot her a proper smile and she grinned back.

"No problem." she hurried towards the next flight of stairs before she stopped. "James."

"Yes Caly?" she breathed out heavily and came to stand over him.

"You should try looking at this from a different point of view." James raised his eyebrows incredulously.

"Like, how?" Caly tilted her head to the side.

"Like, I dunno, I kind of understand why there were girls in the bathroom saying, and I'm quoting here; 'James look super XYZ in his shirt sleeves!'." James blinked.

"XYZ?" she shrugged.

"Let's just say it would _awkward_ if I'd quoted that." James sat back on his heels, a satisfied grin on his face. Caly, face slightly red but grinning too, turned around and skipped up the stairs, leaving James on his knees, shaking his head and smiling in confusion and unexpected happiness.

* * *

"Have you seen Lily?" Al looked up, a frown on his face.

"What is the purpose of e-mailing?"

"Huh?" Caly blinked at her friend, thrown by the random question posed to her.

"What's the purpose of e-mailing?" repeated Al, a very intense look on his face for someone just doing their homework.

"Erm," she said, sinking into a chair next to him, and frowning. "to message someone, share information."

"Okay," he said brightly, expression lightening and scribbling a couple of lines onto the parchment. His face fell back into the intense frown. "why's it good?"

"Well…it's fast, basically free, you've got lots of storage…um…lots of characters, you can, I dunno, it's just convenient." Al nodded scribbling the answers furiously onto the piece of parchment. "Oh! You can send large documents to other people, that's useful…" she shrugged. "I can't really think of anything else." Al nodded.

"That's cool, I think I have enough points."

"Good…so where's Lily?" Al scratched his head.

"Um…no idea, ask Billy and Hugo. Why?" Caly sighed.

"'Cause there's something off with her…and I promised James I would talk to her."

"_Caly_!" said Al in exasperation. "He's meant to talk _to her_ not _through you_." Caly sighed.

"I know…but he said that he'd tried and that she hasn't spoken to him directly since the _train journey_." Al nodded.

"Alright, but…" he sighed and shook his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Al, don't bother lying to me, your eyes are a _dead_ give away." Al blinked in confusion.

"What's that meant to mean?"

"That you have the most expressive eyes that I've ever seen." Al blinked again.

"Is that a compliment?" Caly shrugged.

"I don't know! I, _personally_, meant it as a fact." Al stared at her before the silence began to get very uncomfortable.

"Alright…that's the most awkward silence I think we've had to endure." Caly nodded, a small smile on her face.

"Agreed, so what's wrong?"

"It's…it's just, you don't think that Lily's being bullied, and neither do I, she's far too confident to take any nonsense from anyone. I think…I think she's either upset with James…or dad." Caly could feel her brows sinking into a customary frown.

"What makes you say that?"

"'Cause you're right, she hasn't spoken to James, at least not that I've seen, and she's not happy about dad being here." Al sighed and mussed up his hair as he thought. "I mean, yeah, I'm not thrilled that dad's here, but at the same time…I kind of like it, I feel safer with him around…I'm not so worried. James…well, they're not getting on great since James _hates_ doing his homework and, well, Dad's being tough on him."

"You saw the floor scrubbing too, huh?" Al nodded, trying and failing to hide his smile.

"Yep, got to say he should have seen it coming…but Lily, Lily's always been 'daddy's little girl' but not anymore." he shrugged. "I guess it's probably good you're talking to her, actually." Caly nodded, getting to her feet.

"Okay." Al gave her a tired smile, and threw down his quill, rubbing his eyes. "You okay?" asked Caly, almost retaking her seat.

"Err…yeah." he nodded in a half-hearted manner.

"Really?" Al sighed and then glanced around the Common Room. When he was sure that somebody, Caly wasn't sure who, was not in earshot he beckoned her in.

"Um…Scor is…well he's having…_nightmares_." Caly sank her head into a hand.

"Mum, Rachel or other?" she asked, as light-heartedly as she could.

"All of the above," he muttered and she groaned.

"What's the 'other' part?"

"His dad." Caly sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Have you talked to him?" Al bit his lip.

"No…" Caly leant back, tilting her head and raising her eyebrow. Everything about her posture screamed 'hypocrite' at Al. "Okay, you got me there…I'll try, but if it doesn't work…"

"Al, you're the optimist, of course it will work!" Al, laughing, shook his head and turned back to his work whilst Caly, vaulting over one of the sofas, hurried over to Billy and Hugo.

"Hey Caly." the two boys were sitting together and had their heads bent over a book that Caly couldn't, one hundred per cent, say was a textbook. However, they'd heard the sound of her feet and looked up in time.

"Hi guys, do you know where Lily is?" they shared pointed looks with each other.

"Yes…" said Hugo slowly. "Why?" Caly, tapping her foot in agitation, rolled her eyes.

"Because I want to beat her up." Billy snorted and Hugo rolled his eyes.

"Did James send you?" he asked. Caly paused before shrugging.

"Does it matter?"

"Just a little." Caly frowned, unable to understand _why_ that would matter, and Billy looked away, rolling his eyes.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." assured Hugo. "Lily's just tired of James being interfering…that's _all_." Caly raised her eyebrows, unimpressed by Hugo's response.

"Okay, that's neither here nor there…can you just _tell me_ where she is."

"Her dormitory." said Billy and Hugo shot him a glare. "What?" he demanded as Caly decided to turn away from the two boys. "She's only gonna help."

Caly ran up the stairs and stopped by the door to the first year's dormitory. Carefully, she raised her hand and knocked on the door. There was a moment of silence and then it opened to reveal May Wood standing there.

"Oh…hi! Is Lily there?" May nodded slowly. "Brilliant! Could I talk to her?" she nodded and opened the door wider. Lily was lying face down on the bed and May didn't seem to have any inclination of leaving. "In _private_." May slowly left, and Caly moved over and sat down on Lily's bed.

"Go away."

"No, sorry, don't feel like it." Lily's let out a groan, muffled like her voice had been by the bed sheets, and scrunched her hands into fists.

"_Go away_!" Caly crossed her legs on the bed and cast her gaze over the things on Lily's bedside table and around her bed.

"No, sorry, _really_ don't feel like it now." Lily raised her head slightly.

"What would make you go away?"

"You talking to me." Lily let out an annoyed grunt before sitting up properly.

"Hello, Caly. How was your day? Mine was _fantastic_!" Caly tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. Lily huffed.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." An angry pout fell onto Lily's face, but Caly stared, impassively, back at her until Lily could not take the silence anymore.

"_Nothing's_ wrong! I'm going to _kill_ James!" Caly's head remained tilted and her left eyebrow rose above her right.

"You're going to kill him for caring about you? Really?" Lily sighed.

"I _don't want _him to interfere! He's _always_ trying to boss me around! Why can't he just treat me like Al?" Caly looked down at the sheets, a slightly sad expression coming across her face.

"You don't mean that."

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't, you're just saying it all because you're upset because you lost what he made for you." Lily's mouth dropped open.

"What?" she gaped. "How…_how_ did you know that?" Caly glanced around the room again.

"I can't see it." she said, with a small smile. "So that means…it's either hidden, or you lost it. Given that you've been avoiding James the most…I'd say you lost it." Lily looked at the duvet, tears pricking her eyes.

"I dropped it in the lake." she whispered. "It fell out of my pocket when Billy went overboard. I didn't even notice until we got into Hogwarts." she looked down and Caly moved over, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against her chest.

"Look, Lily, this _isn't_ as big a deal as you've making it out to be." she shook her head as Lily began to cry lightly.

"But Caly," she gasped. "you _don't_ understand! James has never made me, or anyone, _anything _before…then he made _me_ something, and I lost it!" Caly nodded, lifting her eyes to the ceiling momentarily, and rubbing Lily's arm.

"Lily, you need to calm down, and, just, _talk_ to him, okay? James isn't going to explode, or anything. He'd much rather know that you lost it, than think that you're being bullied…or that you hate him." Lily nodded.

"It's just…I thought it was something special, and I know he'd be really upset if he thought I didn't care about it." Caly rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, Lily, I'm only here because he asked me to be…he's _really_ worried about you, though he'll deny that later, no doubt." Lily let out a small laugh. "He even offered to do my homework for me, of course I was far too honourable to take him up on that." Lily laughed some more and Caly released her from her grasp. "Okay, one more question."

"Of course."

"What's up with you and your dad?" Lily frowned.

"Nothing."

"Yep, I believe that." Lily shook her head and pulled a face.

"I don't like having him here." she admitted, when she had remembered Caly's threat to not leave until she'd gotten what she wanted. "I love dad, but all the other people in my year are making fun of me. They keep calling me names, and the Slytherins are being really nasty." Caly raised an eyebrow.

"Which ones?" Lily shrugged.

"I don't know there names."

"Are they my age?" Lily shrugged again.

"Some of them…they're all ages." Caly nodded.

"I'm sorry, Lily, but that's something you're just going to have to get use to."

"I know, but I just…I don't want to be like James, but I want to have fun. I want to be…" she trailed off and shrugged. "It doesn't matter." Caly frowned.

"Are you sure?" Lily nodded. Caly got to her feet, smoothing down her robes in order to give her hands something to do. "Lily," she said, spinning round just as she'd reached the door. "you'll talk to James, right?" she blinked.

"What?" Caly sighed in exasperation.

"_I'm_ not telling James, anything. _You're_ the one that's going to tell him that you lost it." she let out a groan.

"_Caly_."

"No amount of whining and moaning can get you out of doing this, Lily, you _have to_ talk to your brother eventually." Lily huffed but nodded. Caly frowned. "Are you coming down?" Lily shook her head.

"I think I'll stay in my room for a little bit longer." Caly shrugged.

"Okay." she turned around and closed the door, gently, behind her.

* * *

"How did it go?" Al had a diary open before him and he was glaring at the pages as if his gaze could make words appear on it.

"Fine…" she said, giving him, and the book, befuddled looks. Al looked between her and the diary before rolling his eyes.

"I'm meant to be keeping a dream diary and discerning what my dreams mean…the only thing is I _don't remember_ my dreams." Caly sniggered and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. It went... okay. This whole thing's been going on because she lost the present James gave her." Al rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"_Of course_," he exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "it had to be over something tiny!"

"Hey! To your sister this was a big deal, she said James had never given anyone anything hand-made before." Al paused in thought.

"That's true, I guess…I mean, since he worked out he was good at Charms, he takes things that already exist and charm them…like with your chessboard, but, you're right, he doesn't _make_ things." Caly nodded.

"So, anyway, she thought he'd be really upset because he might think that she didn't care about it." Al rolled his eyes again.

"Typical…how _did_ she lose it?"

"Overboard in the lake, when Billy went in." he nodded.

"Well, that explains everything." Caly nodded. Then she looked around the common room.

"Where's Rose and Scor?" she asked. Al shrugged.

"I think they went to the library." Caly nodded.

"You're gonna talk to him, right?" there was a pause before Al nodded.

"Yeah…sure." Caly nodded, noting that there was a note of doubt to Al's voice. For now, Caly decided to just let it be and reached into her bag.

"So…have you done that essay for Liann yet?" there was a pause before Al shook his head.

"I was waiting for Rose, or, failing her, Scor." Caly nodded. "Do you understand any of it?"

"Nope."

"Should we fail it together?"

"Yeah." As they struggled with the second paragraph - the first having been written easily by regurgitating the question in numerous different ways - James wondered into the room, had a whispered conversation with Mindy and promptly walked back to the portrait hole with Mindy hanging off his arm. He winked at Caly, and Al's eyes went wide in shock, whilst Caly just blinked.

"Err," he said leaning into her, "_what_ was that about?" Caly blinked.

"Um…when I saw him on the stairs I tried to cheer him up."

"By telling him to ask Mindy out? I mean, how many times have they gone out?" Caly shrugged.

"Too many times… I _actually_ told him that some of girls in the bathroom were, um…_admiring_ him in his 'shirt sleeves', I didn't actually think he'd go ask someone out." Al sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't matter." he turned back to his work, but Caly could feel the tension that was radiating from him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Caly set down her quill and crossed her arms. Sitting back in her chair she gave Al her best glare.

"Do I look dumb?" she demanded, and Al turned to her, eyebrows raised.

"What? No!" she almost laughed at the scandalised note to his voice, but instead shook her head.

"Good. Then stop trying to lie to me." Al laid down his quill.

"I share lessons with people I've never spoken to before…and _a lot_ of them are giving me crap." Caly's brow dipped as Al glanced at the drying words on his piece of parchment. "They're taking digs at my family, and the worst thing is…most of what they say is true. They mock James, all the time…I'm not even that close to James, but it is _getting_ to me, Caly! I'm supposed to be the even-tempered one, but _every time_ that someone says something about my family, or you, or _Scor_…I can't control it!" his nostrils flared and he stopped talking, abruptly, to collect himself. "I _know_ who I am Caly, I'm not like…I don't know, but I _know_ who I am," he sighed. "and what I'm becoming, _isn't me._ I'm balling my hands into fists every other minute…I'm falling over _everything_." he broke off again, clenching his jaw tightly. "I think there's something wrong with me." he admitted finally. Tears seemed to build in his eyes and Caly reached over, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's okay…you said it yourself…you just took a couple too many bludgers to the head…and you're stressed about school, and the world…" she let out a nervous laugh as he began to cry into her chest. "There's nothing _wrong_ with you, Al, I promise. There's nothing wrong with you." glancing around the common room in desperation, she spotted JP sitting not that far away. After catching his eye, she managed to indicate with her head for him to come over. He dropped his quill instantly and ran over.

"Caly?"

"Hey, can you find Scor and Rose for me?" he shrugged.

"Sure…do you know where zey are?" she shook her head.

"Not really…try the library." he nodded, and left immediately. A second later Lysander and Lorcan had come over.

"Hey Caly."

"Hi guys."

"What's wrong with Prideal?" Caly stared at them with blank faces.

"Huh?"

"Al…he is a lion…lions are known for prides." she stared at them, face frozen in confusion.

"Okay…" she blinked and shook her head. "Um…he's a bit…" she almost shrugged. "upset." they shared looks.

"We could get him some herbs, they are soothing."

"Yeah…cheers, can you ask James to come over, and failing that Roxie or Freddie."

"Right, the moment we've picked them, we'll get them."

"_No_! Sorry…just, get his family first… he needs someone from his family with him now." they shared frowns.

"But you're family." Caly closed her eyes and counted to ten, suddenly remembering why no one apart from James and Colin talked to Lysander and Lorcan.

"Can you, _please_, just get them?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." they left instantly, and Caly had to suppress her anger when they came back with Roxie, stating that they didn't know where Fred was and that James had threatened to blow them up if they opened the door. Roxie, baffled, sat down by her side and put a hand on Al's shaking back. JP came running back, with Scor and Rose in tow they dropped down by his side and Scor leant forward, shaking his shoulder lightly.

"Hey, mate, what's up?" his shoulders were shaking less and Rose placed a hand on his messy head, looking distinctly unnerved.

"Al…" she said, trying and failing to find the words to say. "Al what's…what's going on?" Caly opened her mouth, slightly, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip as she fought for the courage to tell Rose what Al had said to her.

"Caly?" Roxie's hand settled on her shoulder as Scor lifted Al, bodily, from her arms, and picked him up bridal style and carried him to their dormitory.

"He said…" she fell silent, tongue being pressed against her upper lip and eyes darting to the ceiling in an attempt to control her emotions. "He said he thought that there was something wrong with him." Roxie's face turned dark and Rose's crumpled into one of helpless confusion.

"Why?" she asked. Caly shook her head.

"Because…" she closed her eyes again and sighed. "because he felt so angry over what people were saying to him…and he's normally so calm…you know Al's the one that keeps it together…and he's walking in to things and…" she trailed off, shaking her head and rubbed her nose with her left hand. Rose sank back onto her heels a frown forming on her face.

"That's…that's _nothing_." she said, finally. "He can't _expect_ to feel happy about what people are saying." Roxie nodded.

"Besides…you guys are teenagers now…teenage years _suck_." Caly managed to smile out of the corner of her mouth. Rose, however, still looked serious.

"Caly…can I talk to you for a second?" Caly gave Roxie a baffled look, before moving away with Rose.

"What?"

"Have you talked to Lily yet?" Caly, taken aback by the abrupt change of subject, blinked.

"Erm…yeah, just now, I was _just_ talking to Al about it." Rose nodded.

"Good…did you tell him about the Slytherins?" Caly blinked again.

"What? How do _you_ know about the Slytherins?" Rose shook her head.

"Me and Scor had a run in with Bletchly and his little group of friends a couple of days ago." Caly frowned.

"What happened?"

"Oh, nothing…words were exchanged, threats were made…but, anyway, Vaisey dropped it into the conversation that they were encouraging people in the younger years to pick on Lily, Hugo and Billy." Caly almost glared at Rose.

"And you _didn't_ think to mention that to me or Al?" Rose shrugged.

"I dunno, I guess we got distracted…the point _is_, though, does Al know?" Caly shook her head.

"I hadn't gotten round to telling him." Rose nodded.

"Good, I don't think he should know right now…he doesn't need anymore stress." Caly fell silent considering things carefully.

"Are you _sure_ that's wise, Rose?" Rose nodded.

"Yes, Uncle Harry told me that there was no point knowing stuff that we didn't need to…like the fact that, actually, Hardingly was sighted."

"_WHAT_?" Caly's scream was enough to attract the attention of every person in the common room. Several of the more timid looking first years fell out of their chairs in shock. Rose had gone very pale.

"Oops." Caly took a deep breath.

"I _do not_ believe this, Rose! How could you _not_ tell me?" Rose shrugged, but her face was not as nonchalant or calm.

"There's _no point_ stressing over the situation when you can't do anything about it." Caly couldn't listen to Rose's logical arguments, though, because her ears were _buzzing_ with anger. She was _furious_. How could Rose _not understand_ how serious this was when they all _could have died_ because of him!

"This man is _trying to kill me_! And, yet, it's _not important_ that I know where he is? Or what he's doing?" Everyone was staring at them, watching them fight with mild interest.

"Look, Caly, just _calm down_. I didn't tell you because there's no point you doing anything stupid!" Caly closed her eyes and counted to ten, making sure she didn't do anything she'd regret later; like _seriously_ loosing her temper again.

"Rose." she asked, her voice completely steady but the icy tone enough to make everyone in the common room shiver. "is there _anything else_ that you think I _might_ need to know?" Rose paused, seemingly going into deep thought.

"Um…Emma Corner can't remember why she said that Ravenclaw had won the competition…in fact she doesn't remember saying it at all." Rose said the whole thing very gingerly, as if worried the words would cause Caly to explode.

"Thank you." she turned on her heel and walked out of the portrait hole, ignoring Rose's cries of;

_"Wait!_ Where are you going?"

Caly walked until she'd reached a quiet corridor on the third floor. Sitting down on a plinth that usually housed a suit of armour - she didn't care to guess where it had gone - she pinched the bridge of her nose very tightly, and fought for control of her emotions. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, allowing her thorax to expand, and her lungs to fill with oxygen, and a certain degree of calm to take over her. She exhaled slowly. She blinked furiously.

Why hadn't Rose told her these things?

It seemed baffling to Caly that Rose, the one who _hated _secrets, could keep things _that_ important from her. These were things to do with Hardingly, and Hardingly was hunting them. It made no sense. She pushed her jumper sleeves up to her elbow, and ran her hands over her eyes. It didn't make any sense to Caly's mind, but the more she attempted to look at it from Rose's point of view the more it became clear.

Rose didn't want them to interfere. She wanted to play this year safe; a desire that had no doubt been heightened by the presence of Hugo in the school, and she didn't want any of them doing anything reckless or stupid. Though, Caly mused, it was more likely that Scorpius would do something reckless than her. Baring that in mind she vaguely wondered if Rose had told Scor.

_Probably not_, she decided, _he would have told me. He knows we're in this together._

"Caly?" she looked up and saw James standing before her, Mindy's hand in his. She could tell by the way that his hair was messier than Al's, and both their ties were crooked, that the Twins had taken James' threat seriously.

She wasn't sure what came over her, but just seeing James standing before her, clearly having just had a good time whilst Al had been crying his heart out, made her _very_ angry. So, she leapt up and slapped him, hard, around the face. Mindy let out a squeak of surprise, and James stumbled backwards several paces, clutching his cheek. His eyes were wide and confused, clearly unable to understand what he had done to provoke such a violent reaction from someone who he normally got on with abnormally well.

"_Where were you_?" she hissed. James' frown increased at her words.

"What?" he questioned, face riddled with bewilderment and eyes perplexed. Slowly, he removed his hand from his cheek and Mindy's concerned one from his shoulder. "I'll see you back in the common room." he said, slowly. Mindy, shooting a mildly suspicious look between the two of them, left without a word of complaint. James waited for her to go around the corner before turning back to Caly. "Okay…" he said, drawing out the word for far longer than was necessary. "_what_ was that for?" Caly glared at him.

"_That_ was for not coming for Al." James gave her another baffled look.

"What?"

"Lycan…they came to get you and you threatened them."

"Oh…so _that_ was the "_really important_" thing that I needed to come for." Caly rolled her eyes.

_"Yes!"_ she exclaimed, voice breaking away from the furious hiss that it had been.

"Well…they should have just said."

"And you would have come?" there was a tense pause between the two of them.

"Did you speak to Lily?" he asked eventually. Caly blinked.

"Yes…but I'm not telling you what she said."

"Why?"

"Because she has to tell you." James' face turned sour.

"Why?"

"Because she _has to_, okay. You _need to_ talk to her…" she broke off, brow creasing in annoyance and concern, and mouth partially open to finish a sentence she didn't have words for. She wetted her lips, again, as she fell into silence. There was a long heavy pause hanging between them. "I'm sorry." she said eventually, sinking back onto the plinth and giving him a smile that barely lifted her cheeks. "It's just…Rose didn't tell me some stuff about…" she trailed off and let out a deep sigh. "about Hardingly…and Lily." James' face seemed to clear for the first time.

"Oh." he said, bending down so they were on a similar eye level. "What about Hardingly?"

"That he's been sighted…some more stuff about manipulating people; Emma Corner." James frowned again.

"Emma Corner." he said slowly. "She's Daniel's little sister, right?" Caly nodded. "He manipulated her, how?"

"He made her say that the Ravenclaws had won to make us work faster, and then modified her memory."

"Naturally, and what about Lily?"

"Talk to her." James rolled his eyes.

"Right…so what about Al?" Caly raised her eyebrows.

"You don't want me to answer that." James laughed.

"Okay, okay." Caly nodded, giving him a small smile.

"We should go back to the common room." said James eventually. "Before Mindy gets any ideas that find their way to Slughorn's eager ears." Caly, looking up and catching his eyes that sparkled with mirth, burst into laughter.

"What do you think it would take to get him to drop his crazy ideas?" she asked, as the two of them began on their way back up through the castle.

"Honestly, nothing. Even some huge implosion of our friendship, or us finding "true love", or whatever, with other people, would only be seen as surer signs of our love and denial." Caly snorted in agreement.

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with you there." James gave her a small smile.

"First Quidditch game of the season on the weekend." he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw." Caly grinned.

"Same seats?" James rolled his eyes.

"Duh, and then, soon, it's your first Hogsmeade weekend!" Caly rolled her eyes.

"That's _two weeks_ away, besides I don't even think I'm going." James stared at her, wide eyes, and horrified at the idea of her passing it up.

"What?" Caly sighed.

"Scor can't come…and I don't want to leave him here alone." James rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you just use the invisibility cloak?" Caly shook her head.

"Wouldn't work…your dad's manning the door and he knows that Scor is banned, _and_ that we have the cloak. He's going to suspect something." James nodded.

"That's true…but there _must_ be a way out…you can't miss your first Hogsmeade weekend, you just _can't_." Caly smiled at him.

"Yeah…whatever."

"So…um, I have one more question for you." Caly looked at him, eyebrows dipped into an unnecessary frown. "What _exactly_ is going on between Al and the MacDougal girl…because I've been hearing some pretty funny rumours from Simon." Caly was glad that she'd frowned in advance.

"Who?"

"Simon Moon, he has a little brother in your year."

"Oh…_Henry_."

"Yeah, you don't like him?" Caly shrugged.

"He hung around with Atticus and McMillan for the past two years, so…no not really." there was an awkward pause before she shrugged. "but, anyway, I'm not going to tell you anything…mainly because, as far as I'm aware, there isn't anything to tell, but _if _there was I wouldn't because you'd need to ask-"

"Al." said James, pouting.

"Well done, there's hope for you yet." James made to cuff her round the back of the head but she grabbed onto the top of the banister and swung, energetically, out of his reach. Trying hard not to laugh, James took another friendly swipe at her but she'd already darted up the staircase, laughing hard.

The two of them made it back to the common room, red faced and panting, after a nasty encounter with a suit of armour, Mrs Norris and Peeves, that Caly would very much like to erase from her memory. Somehow, though, they had escaped unscathed, mainly because Filch hadn't been able to catch them in time, and Caly was glad to find that she didn't feel at all as troubled as when she'd left. Rose lifted herself from her seat to look at Caly and James.

"Look Caly-"

"It's fine…I took some time out to think, and slap James." Everyone looked at James who grinned, winningly, and proudly showed off his still slightly smarting, red, cheek.

"She has _one heck_ of a powerful slap…just a warning out there for any future boyfriends."

"Oh, I am _so_ telling Slughorn that you've had your first row and that it ended with a slap!" James and Caly turned their glares on Fred who had appeared in the common room since they'd been gone, and was now doubled up in hysterics with his friends.

"Oh, ha-ha." said James, sarcastically. "Where's Al?" all fingers, of the Weasley's and their friends, pointed towards the staircase to the boy's dormitory. He rolled his eyes.

"Right…"

"He's asleep." Scorpius was descending the stairs and wiping his hands on his robes. "Like _dead_ asleep." he stopped and swept his blonde hair out of his forehead. As Caly looked closely at him she noticed that his hair seemed to have wilted, and his face looked a little drawn.

"How was it?" she asked, as she moved over to him. Scorpius shrugged.

"I don't know…" his face creased together in a frown, his grey eyes seemed to cloud over with concern. "I think…I think he's just…" he broke off, chewing on his tongue. "I think he needs to stop playing Quidditch."

"_What_?" Maise shot out of her seat, face alarmed.

"Look." said Scor, holding up his hands. "I want to win _just as much_ as you do, well no less because this is your final year, but I think he's taken a couple blows too many…there's also _too much _on his mind…I think he just needs a break." there was a pause in which the common room all listened in to the fortune of their seeker. Finally Maise shrugged

"Guess there's not much I can do…you've got a fierce 'mothering' look in your eye. I fear it." Scorpius shot an alarmed at Rose and Caly who both shrugged.

"Good…I think we should probably talk to…Professor Harry." there was another pause before James realised he was being spoken to.

"Oh, right, why?" he asked, looking between the three thirdy years in confusion.

"Erm…I don't know…maybe because his son is having some form of _emotional breakdown_, like, _right now_." Scor arched his eyebrow at James as he spoke whilst Caly and Rose shared eye rolls and disbelieving shakes of their heads.

"Okay!" he said, holding up his hands. "I'm _so_ _not_ having that conversation with him, though, I'm still angry about that stair polishing thing." Caly and Scorpius rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"Alright, let's go." she said, beckoning to her two friends.

"Whoa! Whoa!" said Jeff, leaping to his feet. "Where are you going?" the three of them raised their eyebrows at the prefect.

"To see Uncle Harry." said Rose, confused. Jeff shook his head.

"Nah uh, it's curfew. There's no point getting into trouble…go to bed, and you can see Professor Harry in the morning." there was a moment before they shrugged in obedience. Jeff nodded and turned away, thus missing the wink that Scorpius gave to the two girls and that James also picked up on.

* * *

"Here." James held out the Marauders' Map to Scorpius who took it gratefully, invisibility cloak draped over his arm. "Just say "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_" to open it, and then "_mischief managed_" to wipe it."

"Cheers." said Scorpius, making a vague gesture of thanks with the parchment. Rose stood nervously at the foot of the steps to the girl's dorms.

"You're not coming." said Caly, and Rose shook her head, looking nervous

"Sorry, we're only going to get into trouble."

"You meant _you're_ only going to get into trouble - you're staying here where you're safe." Rose shrugged at Scor who had an exasperated look on his face.

"Right…" she gave them an awkward, tight, smile. "I'll wait up." Caly nodded.

"Don't you _dare_ loose the map." James said, glaring at Scorpius and Scor saluted him.

"Understood." Caly, plucking the cloak from Scor's arm, threw it over the two of them. Scorpius, muttering

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." under his breath and tapping the parchment with his wand, followed Caly to the portrait hole.

"Where is he?"

"Office." Caly nodded, and, after pushing open the portrait hole to the Fat Lady's annoyance and confusion, the two of them set off towards Harry's office on the third floor.

The castle was not as empty as either of them expected it to be. On each floor they encountered some form of security, be it a prefect, teacher or auror. On their floor they almost collided with Jay Wood who was standing at the top of the stairs, wand drawn, and face slightly pale in the moonlight. The two of them had squashed themselves into an alcove so that he didn't collide with them when he moved away.

On the next floor they hid behind a tapestry to avoid Professor Flitwick, who Scorpius had spotted coming, and they had to stand on the staircase for at least ten minutes before they could descend to the fifth floor as numerous ghosts had decided that the foot of the stairs was a convenient meeting place. In the end they were broken up by Peeves, and the two of them hurried down to the fourth floor before Filch or Mrs Norris could arrive on the scene.

The fourth floor was guarded by two aurors who looked surly and bored, but also seemed to hear their tentative breathing and pattering feet. Scor and Caly both had to put their hands over their mouths for fear of making too much sound, and they didn't feel safe moving until one of them had gone up the stairs, and when both sets of footsteps were out of hearing range.

The third floor, where Uncle Harry's office was, was mercifully deserted, probably because the Head auror - or whatever Harry was now - resided at the end of the corridor. They were sneaking towards his door when Caly noticed, to her horror, that Harry had, somehow, managed to end up _behind_ them on the map. They had a moment's indecision, based around the fact they were blocking the door way and there was nowhere to hide, when a wand pressed into the base of Caly's neck.

"You're not very good at this, are you?" the cloak was pulled off the two of them, and they turned, hearts filled with dread, to face Harry, whose green eyes twinkled by the glow of the flickering lamp in his hand. Scor gulped.

"Err…" words failed the young Malfoy for the first time in a long while, and Caly cast her eyes around the corridor, not sure what they could say to make their situation any less suspicious.

"Come inside." he said, tiredly, and, with a tap of his wand, he unlocked his office door and ushered them inside. Scorpius wiped the map clear as subtly as he could, but Caly knew that Uncle Harry had spotted it. He indicated that they should take seats in front of his desk. "So…you want to tell me what's going on?" the two of them shared long looks.

"Um…" said Scor, his mind seemingly grinding to a halt. "Well…you see, it's about…Al." Harry's eyebrows shot upwards.

"Excuse me?" he was clearly expecting them to lie, and he was certainly not expecting them to be coming to him - after hours - about his son. "What about Al?" Scor looked at Caly. Caly chewed her lip.

"Well…you see he's kind of…" she broke off again, looking at her hands. "he's really angry about stuff that's being said-"

"-and his coordination's _completely_ gone-"

"-so he thinks that something's wrong with him." there was a pause in which Harry leant back in his chair, surveying them both with critical green eyes.

"I see." he said, finally, and the two friends looked at each other in confusion. "How long have you known this?" they looked at each other again.

"Known what, precisely?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Not the coordination thing, that's a little obvious…I mean what he thought."

"Oh!" said Caly, expression clearing but not brightening. "Oh, since, like, an hour ago…less." Harry blinked.

"Okay…" he opened his mouth faltered, frowned, raised his eyes to the ceiling, and then let out a sigh. "Thank you, both of you, for telling me this…" the rest of his sentence never left his mouth as he continued to frown. He opened his mouth, and then faltered again, as if unable to quite find the words to express what he wanted to say. "How…do you…what do you think we should do?" there was a pause in which the two teenagers exchanged bemused looks.

"Erm…" said Scorpius. "We kind of thought _you'd_ be telling us that." Harry nodded.

"I would be…but you've just dropped rather a large bombshell on me…and your ideas will be as good as mine." Scorpius opened his mouth, no doubt to protest, when Caly elbowed him.

"Scor said that he should stop playing Quidditch for a little while…Maise agreed." Harry nodded.

"Yes, well, I have to say it might have been good to do that in the holidays…number of bludgers he took to the head." he shook his own. "I have to admit…I'm at a loss of what to do…I remember feeling _really_ angry when I was a teenager…but I wasn't _the most_ even-tempered person…certainly not like Al is…" he sighed heavily. "I don't have to ask you to keep an eye on him, you're clearly already doing that." he swallowed, slightly. "Just…I think…tomorrow I'll take him to the Hospital Wing…make sure that there actually _is nothing_ wrong with his head."

"Don't you have to teach?" Harry shrugged.

"Yes…it sucks, I don't understand why anyone would chose it as a profession." Both of the students let out all small snorts of amusement at that.

"I could take him." suggested Scor. "We have Charms first thing tomorrow." Harry sighed, sinking back into his chair and running a hand across his face.

"Well…okay, just this once." Scorpius nodded, glancing at Caly who was frowning.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concern heavy in her voice.

"Me? Yeah, just tired." Scorpius looked at Caly again, pausing for a second before asking the next question.

"Has there been any progress?" Harry shook his head.

"I'm conveniently out of the way." he said, sighing. "Ron's been bumped down to desk duty whilst his anger's being checked over so I'm not getting a lot of info."

"What about Teddy?"

"Been dragged over to Azkabahn." Scor's eyes went wide. "As extra security." he hastily amended.

"Oh, good."

"I reckon, right now I know about the same as you guys…which is very little. I mean, Kingsley's so deep under cover, or whatever, that he's pretty much _impossible_ to get messages to."

"But you _still_ knew about Hardingly?" Caly's tone came out far more accusing then she'd intended, and both males blinked at her in confusion. "Sorry." she muttered whilst Scor continued to look confused.

"What? What about Hardingly?" he glanced backwards and forwards between his Professor and his friend whilst Caly just chewed her lip and Harry sighed. "_Caly_!" Caly blinked.

"Rose told me, like, just after you'd taken Al upstairs…I got really angry and I stormed out." Scor nodded, grey eyes clouding over.

"And you told her to do that?" he asked, voice hard as he turned back to Harry. Harry shook his head.

"No…not _precisely_…we were talking about why _The Prophet_ was printing what it was, and I dropped it into the conversation by accident…I didn't want _any of you_ to know because there's _nothing_ you can do." there was a long silence.

"Yeah…right." Scorpius folded his arms across his chest but didn't say anything in reply. Harry sighed into the silence, clearly at a loss for anything to say.

"I guess you two better pop your cloak back on and head back to the common room…before someone walks past and demands to know what's going on."

"Wait, you're _not_ punishing us?" Harry shook his head at Caly.

"No…that wouldn't be right seeing as you snuck out to tell me about Al." they both nodded. "But, don't go spreading it around that I was lenient, the last thing we need is the Ministry breathing even further down our necks." they both nodded again.

The journey back to the common room went a lot smoother than the one on the way down as the amount of security seemed to have lessened slightly; the prefects having gone to bed. They pulled off the cloak in front of a scandalised Fat Lady, and hurried into the common room to find Rose dozing in an armchair. They shook her awake quickly.

"Wh…what?" she rubbed her hands over her face, and blinked up at them in confusion. "Oh, it's you." Caly and Scor rolled their eyes at each other. "How did it go?"

"Well, we were caught," said Caly, taking a seat with her back to the dying fire. Rose looked in worry up at Scor who was perching on the arm of a nearby armchair.

"Yeah, but it was only Harry." Rose didn't look at all relieved. "We told him what had happened, what we wanted to talk about, and he let us off. I'm going to take Al to the hospital wing tomorrow to check his head over…and he told us about Hardingly." Rose stiffened slightly.

"Oh." Scorpius nodded, his face grave.

"Next time, Rose, no matter how good your intentions are, _please_ tell us these kind of things." Rose nodded, sadly.

"Right…I'm sorry, I just…I don't _want_ to fight anyone…I mean, right now, I'm…I'm sort of scared." Scor rolled his eyes, and Caly just nodded. "I don't want anything to happen to anyone…but with all these people _out there_…" she shrugged. "I'm not _foolish_, I know _someone's_ going to get hurt…but I don't want it to be _us_…and I don't want to help it nearer to us." there was a long pause between the three of them. The silence hung heavily, like a winter cloak, over them, and none of them had the energy to shake it off. Scorpius stood up, stretching his body and little a small grunt as his back clicked. He swept his hair out of his eyes and back over his head.

"Okay, I'm going to bed…I'll see the two of you in the morning." Caly nodded in acknowledgement and Rose gave him a half-hearted wave. Caly turned to Rose who was chewing on the top of her lip.

"I'm sorry." said Rose, softly. Caly shook her head.

"It's okay…it really is." she shrugged. "I just…" she sighed and shrugged. "I don't know." she got off the rug on the floor. "Come on, I'm going to go to bed now, you coming?" Rose blinked and nodded.

"Yeah…" the two of them began to climb up the stairs, and, as they passed the door to the first year dormitory, Rose turned to Caly. "So, what else was up with Lily? Apart from the Slytherins?" Caly rolled her eyes, pointedly.

"_I'm_ not saying _anything_. If you want to know, ask Lily." Rose grumbled slightly, before flopping down onto her bed. Caly raised her eyebrows. "Not changing, are we?" Rose mumbled incoherently. Caly, rolling her eyes, pulled her pyjamas from her trunk and didn't bother talking to Rose again.

* * *

For Rose and Caly, the lesson they did _not_ want first thing the next day was one with the Slytherins. However, they were forced to share Charms with them, and it was quickly apparent that news of Al's 'break down' had travelled like wild fire through the school, no doubt by the portraits who were possibly the worse gossips Caly had ever been unfortunate enough to encounter.

"How's the psycho?" Monica Vaisy was right up in Caly and Rose's face the moment they came to a stop outside their Charms classroom. Rose gave her a condescending glare, Caly raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, don't understand what you're talking about?" she said, adjusting her bag strap on her shoulder, and leading Rose towards the classroom door.

"Oh, come _on_." said Zabini, smirking to herself. "We all know he's gone mad." The Gryffindors around them were tensing, but Rose just shot Caly a mock-curious look.

"Poor co-ordination makes you insane, I had _no idea_!" they were greeted with a lot of laughter from the Gryffindors at that, and the Slytherins scowled.

"Oh, touché," muttered Bletchly. "but, you seemed to have forgotten, that he thinks something's _wrong_ with him…he thinks he's sick, messed up in the head."

"_But_," came the drawling voice of Scorpius Malfoy as he strode through the crowd. "we all know that what we _think_ may not be the truth." he glared Bletchly down and the Slytherin stiffened ever so slightly. "Then again; _s__ometimes,_ we hear things and assume we _imagined _them when actually they're _very real_." there was a heavy, intense, pause between the two boys, broken, in the end, by Flitwick opening his door and calling them all inside.

"So what's Al like?" Caly had raised her textbook, from which they were taking notes, in front of her face so that Flitwick couldn't see that she was talking. Scorpius shrugged whilst Rose tilted her head towards them in order to hear better.

"Okay…Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me stay whilst she did the tests, but Al kept asking me if _I_ was okay. Something about sleeping." Caly paused, her quill lingering on an 's', causing the end of it to go blotchy.

"Sleeping?"

"Yeah, nightmares, or whatever. I dunno. I told him I was fine."

"But _are_ you fine?" Rose was frowning, her quill resting against the ink-well as she paused in the process of refilling it. Scorpius turned his grey eyes to Caly.

"What are talking about?" Caly nervously licked her lips and glanced at her work for a brief second.

"Al told me you were having nightmares, I told him to talk to you because he was worried about you, I guess that's what he was trying to do."

"Oh…" Scorpius frowned at his own piece of parchment, and his elegant handwriting. "I didn't know."

"_What_?" said Caly, face scrunching up in confusion. "What?" Scorpius looked to her, equally confused.

"I didn't know I was having nightmares." Caly continued to blink in confusion.

"But, then, how did Al know what you were- oh…" she rolled her eyes. "you're talking in your sleep." Scorpius stabbed the desk with his quill, almost breaking the end.

"Fabulous." Rose continued to frown.

"We need to focus on our work." she said, eventually. Caly widened her eyes and shot Scor a 'that-is-_crazy_' look.

"Rose, please repeat that, slowly." Rose looked at Scor.

"Look, there's nothing we can do for Al, nothing we can do; _period_. Therefore we should focus on what we can do. In this case; our Charms." Caly rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes, I wonder why I bother."

"And sometimes, I wonder why I made friends with a workaholic." Rose poked Scor with the sharp end of her quill. "Ow!" he nursed his hand whilst Flitwick appeared by Caly's desk, making the short girl jump.

"Are we all working productively here?" there was a pause that should have been too long for any teacher's liking. However, Flitwick was a huge fan of all three of them, and so waited until Scorpius said.

"Yes, sir, we just stopped to talk about passage 4.6." Professor Flitwick bobbed his tiny head.

"Yes, an interesting passage, but not quite as far along as I was expecting you to be. Discuss it after class, for now; more work less chat." Scorpius gave him a charming smile.

"Sure, sir." the moment he'd moved away, Rose jabbed Scor with her quill again. "Ouch! Quit doing that!" Caly snorted, quietly, to herself and move back to her textbook, flipping the page casually.

* * *

At break the three friends, feeling just a bit strange without Al, stood in the court yard, wind whipping their cloaks. Scorpius was seemingly distracted, but Caly let it go. Rose attempted to read her book, tutting under her breath as the pages kept flipping backwards.

"Hey guys!"

"_Sweet Merlin_!" exclaimed Scorpius, leaping a couple of centimetres into the air. He spun around to glare at Martin Creevy. "_What_ do _you_ want?" Martin took a shocked stepped backwards.

"Sorry," he almost stuttered. "just, Maise wanted me to tell you that there's extra Quidditch practise after school." Scorpius groaned but nodded.

"Right, thanks Martin." the smaller boy paused, still bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. "What?"

"What's wrong with Al?" Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"Nothing, he's okay," there was a moment of silence in which Martin lost his bounce. "this stuff is _just_ precautionary." Martin nodded, and then, finally picking up on the hint in Scorpius' glare, bounded away across the courtyard. "Ah, that kid _really_ gets on my nerves sometime." Caly raised an eyebrow.

"Kid? He's _our_ age." Scorpius shrugged.

"It's kind of like Al said, a lot of people seem to be younger than us; Lily, Hugo and Billy definitely are." Rose raised her eyes from the book.

"Please tell me you two aren't thinking of anything dumb?" Caly and Scorpius turned to her, frowns on their faces.

"Dumb?"

"Yeah, like, I don't know- I just get this feeling that you two are going to do something stupid." Caly and Scorpius shared long looks.

"Look, Rose, I know you worry about us, but we're not going to go and try and hunt down Hardingly." there was a pause in which Scorpius shifted before nodding.

"It's true…I don't know where he is…where the hell would I start? I'm _not _stupid. For now, I'm gonna stay here."

"For now?" there was a heavy pause.

"If he resurfaces, I _can't_ _promise_ that I _won't_ do anything…he killed my mum…I still want revenge. What would you do?" Rose fell silent thinking. "Imagine if he'd gotten Hugo…what would you do?" Rose bit her lip, eyes flashing, before nodding.

"Okay, but, _if_ we find out where he is, we tell Uncle Harry. That's all…we can go chase after him, but we tell Uncle Harry as well. Deal?" Caly looked at Scor whose grey eyes narrowed as he thought it over.

"Deal." there was a moment of satisfied silence from Rose. Caly dug her hands deeper into her pockets. Scorpius looked at the sky. The bell rang. The three of them got up with sighs. They ran back into the castle as the first drops of rain began to fall. Inside the entrance hall was something that ought to have brightened their mood. Standing by the hour glasses, and being given a relatively wide berth by the rest of the school, was Al. The three of them ran over to him. He looked pale, and gave them a forced smile, before turning, without saying a word, towards the marble staircase. Slightly taken aback the three friends, exchanged worried looks before chasing after him.

"Al?" he didn't respond to Rose's question, or Scor's hand which had been raised in greeting.. Caly hurried to Al's side, frowning.

"You don't wanna talk, that's fine, you don't have to." Scor and Rose were shooting her looks that told that that wasn't "fine", but Caly ignored them. Al didn't give any indication that he'd heard her. Rose adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag, Caly chewed her lip, and Scor closed his eyes, looking like he was struggling to keep his composure. Without another word, though, the four of them continued up the stairs to their next lesson.


	5. Keep It Together

**_Dear Readers,_**

**_Erm...I guess is the part where I profusely apologise for not updating in so long (I'm too ashamed to look) but better late than never, right? I would shower you with excuses, but the bottom line is that writing this has been kind of hard, I don't why, and other stories are easier so, because I'm lazy and human, I've been writing the other ones...Sorry! I think I'll just leave you to read this chapter!_**

**_Hope you enjoy and that, maybe, it was worth the wait!_**

**_Sopphires. _**

* * *

Keep it Together

The run into the weekend, which hosted the first game of the season, was full of long silences and growing tension. Scorpius, especially, seemed to be growing increasingly tired of Caly's _"patient"_ approach to Al's problem. Rose liked to stay out of the way, tending to go to the library where Caly was sure she was researching this kind of problem, whilst Scor yelled his heart out to the Gryffindor common room. It didn't help that Maise's obsession, already beyond chronic, had been dramatically increased by the fact that this was her final year at Hogwarts, and, whilst she had won in her first year as captain, she wanted to leave with her name on the trophy too. Caly completely understood that desire, and had circumstances been different she'd probably have told the others to just deal with, but circumstances were what they were, and she was sure the extra pressure was not helping Scor or Rose or Al. Al was feeling it worst by his decision to remain off the team for the opening match. Caly personally thought it was a wise choice, but, as he was one of the reasons Gryffindor had lost last year, he was getting a rather cold shoulder from quite a bit of the house. Naturally, the decreased popularity of the Potter-Weasley's to start with wasn't helping. Caly was almost certain, though, that if Rose, Freddie, Roxie and, indeed, Scor, were instrumental in helping them win, most of the hate would be forgotten.

The Saturday of the game dawned cloudy, drizzly and generally depressing. For once, Caly was up before Rose and had to shake the other girl awake.

"Rose!" she hissed, shaking her shoulders. "Rose, _wake up_!" the bushy haired girl groaned.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, face firmly planted into her pillow.

"Eight thirty."

"_Merlin_!" she said, shooting upright and twisting around, tangling herself in the sheets and tumbling out of bed. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Caly shrugged, assisting Rose to her feet.

"_You're_ my alarm clock," she said, throwing Rose her Quidditch robes that were half in her trunk and half strewn on the floor. "Come on, get your act together." Rose grumbled again but obediently began to change into her robes. Caly, shaking her head and wondering how the boys were doing, fished around in her own trunk for a clean T-shirt.

Al was unenthusiastically picking at his breakfast; a piece of toast with a meagre bit of butter spread on it, when they arrived in the Great Hall. He was dressed in red, and Caly shot Scorpius and Rose a confused look as she took her seat.

"He's agreed to be on the substitute bench," muttered Rose under her breath. Caly nodded in understanding, helping herself to a roll and buttering it. Scorpius looked tired. His face, always pale, looked slightly haggard and grey. Caly sent him a questioning look, and he frowned back.

"What?" Caly looked at Maise, nervously chewing on a piece of sausage, and shook her head. She wasn't mad about Quidditch, but she got that it meant a lot to her friends. Besides, a win would lift their spirits. It was better not to get Scor riled up just before he was about to play. She shook her head in a dismissive manner, shooting Scor a small smile that said to ignore her.

"Hey," James was standing behind her, scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. "You alright there lil' bro?" Al gave him a weak smile and nod. James spared him half a frown before turning back to Caly, expression demanding that she got a move on.

"Give me a sec," she said, taking a bite out of her roll. James, with a great huff of annoyance, dropped into the seat on Caly's right. Caly looked up and down the table.

"Where's Mindy?" James shrugged.

"Around," Caly raised an eyebrow as the Quidditch team, clad in their customary red and gold, got up from the table. She gave them a half wave as the rest of the table began to whoop and cheer, but remained focused on James.

"She's your _girlfriend_, don't you want to go with her? I mean, you guys seem kind of serious…this time round." James rolled his eyes and helped himself to some of the fruit on Caly's plate.

"I'll tell you," he said, mouth full of banana. "what's serious; Gryffindor winning."

"Fat chance," muttered Caly under her breath. James raised his eyebrows. "Oh, come on, all credit where it's due, Nikki's _good_, but she doesn't hold a candle to Al." James tilted his head to the side in agreement, and then shrugged.

"Yeah…but Al won't play."

"Seriously?" demanded Caly, raising her eyebrows at the disappointed tone in his voice. "He won't play _for his own health_, and he's your brother. Quidditch is important, but it's not _that_ important." James shrugged.

"Whatever…just hurry up, or we won't get our seats." Caly rolled her eyes and stuffed the last bits of banana into her mouth.

"I never understood why you do that," said James, in a contemplative manner, as they began to leave the hall.

"Do what?" she asked with a frown, looping her Gryffindor scarf around her neck.

"Why you cut your banana into pieces," she shrugged, a skip ever so slightly present in her step.

"I don't know, I'm sure you could psycho-analyse it into something very meaningful, but I'd say it was habit. Also, little kids _hate_ eating fruit…if you cut it up into small pieces you can generally trick them into eating the whole thing." James looked at her, frowning but looking faintly amused.

"And you know that, why?" Caly rolled her eyes, swinging onto the stairs of the stands.

"Because I use to help the carers in the home with the new kids…got them on their feet when they were new…until they could find some proper friends." James frowned as they sidled into their seats.

"I always find these little insights into your life fascinating," Caly smiled at him, slightly.

"Likewise," James' eyes crinkled slightly, but the smile remained, genuinely, on his face. Their gaze was broken, in the end, by the sound of Nick's booming voice.

"OKAY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH GAME OF THE SEASON. THIS, AS YOU'LL ALL BE HEARTBROKEN TO KNOW, IS MY LAST SEASON SO LET'S MAKE IT A GOOD ONE! IN BRIGHT BLUE ON THE RAVENCLAW TEAM IS; DOEN, DOEN, DOART, WEASLEY, DOART, CORNER AND…HART! AND, NOW, FOR THE RUNNERS UP FROM LAST YEAR; WEASLEY, WOOD, MADON, WEASLEY, MALFOY, WEASLEY AND…JORDAN!" the captains shook hands, and Madame Hooch, still an imposing figure despite the grey hair, blew her whistle as the Quaffle flew up into the air. The players shot from the ground, 14 red and blue blurs and one black one.

The game began the moment the ball was snatched from the middle of the air by Scor. He rolled round, expertly, and threw it, almost without looking, at Roxie. Roxie seemed to half jump from her broom to clutch it to her chest. She dodged Doart and both Doens, plus the bludgers that were sent her way. She threw it, hard, at Maise. Dom, however, came out of nowhere. She snatched the Quaffle to her chest and spiralled downwards, rapidly. As her toes skimmed the grass, she threw it, almost wildly, upwards, and Hart snatched it and lobbed it towards the goal. Kay caught it easily, throwing the Quaffle back to Maise with a wink. Rose and one of the Doen brother's went weaving through the chasers, desperately chasing a bludger whilst Nikki and Emma narrowly avoided colliding with them as they charged after a golden streamer they thought was the snitch.

* * *

"Oh Merlin," James was hiding his face in his hands as they watched Nikki take a spectacular tumble from her broom after she didn't notice a bludger coming from below. She still had one hand on the broom, and, after a tense moment, she managed to get back on a good hundred feet below Emma.

"You can look," said Caly, on tiptoe to see the game better. "Nikki's back on her broom." James peered up and winced as Kay smashed his fist into the Quaffle to deflect it.

"That looked painful." Caly snorted, hearing the faint strains of Kay's colourful language over the roars of the crowd.

"OH, IS THAT THE SNITCH!" Nick's yells through the megaphone sent the crowd surging to their feet.

"_Where_?" demanded James, eyes scouring the sky for a sign of the elusive golden ball.

"_There_!" yelled Caly, thrusting her finger skyward, indicating to the tiny fluttering ball that hovered way above the Ravenclaw hoops.

"Oh no…" muttered James as they watched Emma zoom towards it, Nikki valiantly on her tail. "She'll _never_ make it." Caly nodded, aware that Nikki's tumble from her broom had likely cost Gryffindor the game. She was far behind Emma, and, even as Scorpius threw the Quaffle through the hoop for the twentieth time that game, the golden ball was snatched from the air. The groans from the Gryffindors were drowned out by the screams from the Ravenclaws. James buried his head in his gloved hands.

"You know," said Caly in a light tone. "it's not as bad as it seems." James stared up at her, incredulously.

"How is it not so bad?"

"Well, we only lost by 20 points for one." James blinked at her.

"Yeah, but we _lost_." Caly rolled her eyes.

"But only by _twenty points_, we came close to winning." James just groaned again.

"You're so infuriating. Why can't you go back to being a pessimist?"

"Well, with Al being out of action for the time being, someone has to stop you all going crazy and depressed." James scowled at her.

"Can you stop grinning, we just _lost_ a _Quidditch game_!" Caly shook her head.

"James, you're really betraying me here, you're supposed to be obsessed with chess like me." James shot her a wry grin, and they followed the other people out of the stands. James' black mood seemed to descend upon him again, though, once they were surrounded by the subdued, muttering, crowd.

"They should have made him play." Caly pretended not to hear the angry mutterings of the Gryffindors that were making their way back to the common room. She walked next to James who had his head bowed, as if hoping no one would notice him. She rolled her eyes, certain that James "reputation" would survive this.

"They're right," he muttered, darkly, as they traipsed up the final flight of stairs. "We should have made him play, it might have taken his mind of things."

"And let him take another knock to the head?" James shrugged.

"Maybe." Caly raised her eyebrows as they took a seat by the fire.

"_Maybe_? He's your brother." James just shrugged again. Caly gritted her teeth, annoyance at James' behaviour beginning to crawl through her. It gave her a strong desire to slap him again. James ran a hand through, and winked at Mindy who was standing with Colin. Nick wandered over.

"Maise wants Al to know that he's having a full medical tomorrow."

"Full medical?" questioned Caly, not knowing what that entailed.

"She just wants to know how "_not up to it_" he really is." Caly nodded, her jaw tensing ever so slightly.

"Why can't she just tell him that herself?" Nick shrugged.

"I don't know, she doesn't want him to feel pressured-" Caly snorted, and Nick ignored her. "-and it sounds better coming from you." Caly shrugged.

"Right, fine, I'll tell him." Nick seemed to dither for a moment, eyes flickering between Caly and James, and, perhaps, picking up on the unusual amount of tension being emitted from them.

"Tell Rose and Scor they played a good game, too." Caly nodded once more before Nick turned around and somersaulted over an armchair – inhabited by a now shell-shocked first year – landing by Jeff and Sally.

An uneasy silence settled between Caly and James as they waited for Al, Rose and Scor to reappear. They were certainly taking their time in coming back from the changing rooms, and Caly sincerely hoped that Al wasn't trying to drown himself in the showers. The silence, though, was only punctuated by their slightly heavy breathing. It prodded and poked at Caly, commandeering her full attention, and she kept glancing at the moody teenager sitting beside her, glaring at the unlit fireplace with enough ferocity to set it ablaze.

"James," she began, hesitancy plain in the two syllables. "don't be too harsh on Al." James shifted, frown intensifying.

"What's that meant to mean?"

"That he's already feeling down, there's no need to hurt him anymore." There was a long pause before James shrugged.

"Maybe he just needs to toughen up, it's dumb to stop playing Quidditch over one little thing." Caly raised her eyebrows, face incredulous.

"Isn't that a bit rich, coming from you?" James turned to her, something dangerous sparking in his eyes. He leapt to his feet and stormed off, leaving Caly alone with the sinking feeling of guilt about having stuck a low blow.

"Hey Caly," she glanced up and was happy to see Scor, Rose and Al making their way over.

"Hey guys," another awkward silence descended upon them. "Al, apparently you're having a full medical tomorrow." Al blinked at her.

"What? I already got checked out." Caly shrugged.

"I don't know more anymore than you, it's just what I've been told." Al nodded, face glum. Neither Rose nor Scor looked cheerful either, and Caly accepted that this was one of those Quidditch moments that non-obsessive's wouldn't understand.

"Rose, Scor," her two friends looked back up. "you played an awesome game." Al's expression, the little that had been showing, vanished to be replaced with a dull mask. The lack of emotion in his green eyes was genuinely frightening. He got to his feet and left. Scor followed him without so much as a word or backwards glanced. Rose turned to Caly with an incredulous look on her face.

"Why did you bring it back up?" she demanded in anger that just concealed her shock. Caly shrugged.

"I was trying to cheer up you and Scor up. It's what Nick told me to say." Rose rolled her eyes, she sighed and sank back into the sofa, letting her body collapse. She briefly shut her eyes.

"Thanks for the concern, Caly, but me and Scor can handle losing. Let's just worry about Al, okay?" Caly nodded mutely.

"Yeah, sorry, I just- let's forget I said anything." Rose nodded. They sat in silence for a while longer, the occasional peer walking past their seats and patting Rose on the shoulder, congratulating and consoling her.

"Do you have any ideas about Al?" Caly shrugged.

"Time, attention…acceptance. It might be confusing because he's changing, but he may just have to accept that, for the time being, that's who he is." Rose nodded absent-mindedly. "What is it?" Rose shrugged.

"I was just thinking, all the stuff that's happening out there, one way or another, involves us. I was just wondering how mum, dad and Uncle Harry coped…it's just, it's exposing." Caly raised an eyebrow.

"Exposing?" Rose nodded.

"It may sound strange, but it's how I feel…like we're being watched and scrutinised, it's unnerving." Caly shook her head.

"Sometimes, I wonder why people bother with the word "_normal_", when does it ever happen? I mean, what _is_ "_normal_"?" she shook her head. "I wish my primary school teachers could see me now…we used to have to write about what we thought we'd be doing as a teenager…this is _quite_ different." Rose cocked her head slightly.

"What did you write?"

"Playing chess." There was a brief moment of silence as their heads turned, but when their eyes met they dissolved into laughter.

"So not all untrue then." Caly nodded, still laughing.

"Yeah…though I never envisaged doing it whilst in mortal peril." Rose snorted and nodded.

"I used to plan out how I thought my life would be."

"Let me guess," said Caly. "it involved being top of the year-" Rose flushed pink. "-being on the Quidditch team-" her ears began to go red. "-being prefect, Quidditch captain and head girl-" Rose was definitely avoiding her eyes. "-getting O's in everything, meeting "_Mr Right_" and becoming some high-up ministry official." Rose was a deeper shade of scarlet than the sofa.

"Shut up!" she muttered, looking away. Caly cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"How much of that has changed?" Rose pressed her lips together, the very picture of a person struggling to retain composure.

"Well, um, making it through the next couple of years without losing anybody has been added to the list…" Caly nodded, not quite saying the "_ahh_" on her lips, losing her sense of humour. "Caly, you know…" Rose shrugged and sighed. "If anything happens to any of us, what are we meant to do?" Caly blinked at her friend.

"What?"

"I mean, say, I dunno…if anything happened to you, do you want us to get revenge?" Caly blinked. She had never thought about it before. It was tempting, of course, to say yes, but at the same time… She thought of Scorpius, and the torture that he felt over what had happened to Rachel. Dark wizard or not, that had to hurt, right? She swallowed.

"No, absolutely not…and I'm not going to die alone…if anything happens to me, I'm going to make _sure_ that I take Hardingly with me…for Scorpius' sake." Rose tilted her head to the side.

"Because he's lost so much?" Caly shrugged.

"Because he deserves it all to be over…and after Rachel…I don't think he'd cope." Rose looked at her with a frown, face wrinkled as she tried to understand.

"Because of…" Caly shrugged again.

"Because I think it would satisfy him…and then it would start to eat him away, it's already happened."

"Yeah, but Rachel was just _wrong_." Caly sighed, shaking her head.

"I don't know…I just, you know what, just…" Caly ran her hands over her face. "It's late, Rose. Can we talk about this when I can keep my eyes open?" Rose nodded, getting to her feet.

"Yeah, right, I just- I think about it a lot." Caly raised an eyebrow, standing up as well.

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine." Rose rolled her eyes.

"I'm just being realistic." Caly nodded, not bothering to point out that what they needed right now was a bit of optimism, not the harsh reality.

* * *

"Look at this!" The Monday morning after the game was still a pretty black affair at the Gryffindor table. Caly, Scor and Al were sitting in silence and all jumped when Rose slammed down her cope of the morning _Prophet_ before them. The three of them leant forward to read the headline that was spread out before them.

**_Riots Break Out as Aurors Do Nothing_**

"Not the best title I've ever read," muttered Scorpius, and Rose raised an eyebrow at him, clearly demanding why that mattered of all things. Caly glanced between the two of them before looking towards Al who was reading the article with a frown.

_The riots of last night in Diagon Alley show the public's feeling of dissatisfaction towards the work of the aurors as tension runs high amongst the people. The riot was sparked by the presence of Blaise Zabini – suspect ex-death eater – in the shopping street. When the aurors arrived on the scene, their main aim to seemed to be to escort Mr Zabini to safety which provoked a feeling great anger amongst the general public._

_The Leaky Cauldron, which has stood abandoned since the mysterious disappearance of the Longbottom family, became the stronghold for the rioters as they shot curses and hexes at the law enforcement officers that had joined forces with the aurors to battle the protestors. _

_Shop fronts were smashed, and homes set on fire as the rioters beat back the Ministry forces. It seemed as if the Ministry would be beaten into submission as they were forced to fall back and cover for the heavy losses as many of their staff suffered serious injuries, or attempted to evacuate the innocent bystanders and members of the public that were trapped by the fires and the mob. _

_The tide was turned, though, by the arrival of George Weasley in the alley. Mr Weasley, father of two, and war hero and veteran, pulled a small child from the wreckage of a burning toy store, handing her to her frantic mother, and faced down the mob, demanding to know why they were terrorising an innocent child. He gave an impassioned speech to the mobsters, filled with small wisecracks, that successfully diffused the tension in the street, and enabled the injured to be evacuated and the fires to be put out. _

_However, this is not the first riot to occur in the shopping street, and it seems that the people cannot be placated for long, and the Ministry cannot keep standing up for the morally ambiguous. It seems that the people want swift and decisive action, and this reporter for one, firmly believes that if there is not much progress soon, serious changes are going to have to be made in the higher echelons of the Ministry. _

_In an interview today, Procurater has urged for calm, saying that the lack of sightings of the escaped convicts is a good thing, and that there is no need for undue panic. _

_"We cannot let these monsters win," he said in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. "They would burn our free society to the ground, and we __**cannot**__ help them. These times may be frightening, they may be hard, but as a country we know that we have faced worse. This is __**not**__ our darkest hour. We will round up those that have escaped in no time, and we will undoubtedly look back on these events and laugh at our antics. We must not overreact for our fear of them is the very weapon that they need. They need that power over us, but we __**will not**__ give it to them. We will not be threatened by them. We will stand; strong, and we will show them who we are and what we are capable of. We are a diverse society! We are a __**free**__ society! And we __**will not**__ sacrifice that! Not for __**anything**__!" _

"Wow," muttered Scorpius. "Wow…" the other three turned to look at him, angry to incredulous. Scorpius shrugged. "What? I might not like him, but you can't deny that he's a good rhetoric." Al ran a hand over his face, slumping back into his seat, and Caly chewed her lip.

"What else does it say?" Rose scanned the rest of the article. She shrugged.

"Just some stuff about how amazing Procurater's speech was, and how people are pissed off with the aurors and Kingsley, and they're starting to get annoyed with Uncle Harry again." Caly sighed, and Scorpius glanced up at the staff table. Harry wasn't reading the paper. He was engaged in a conversation with Professor Flitwick and was leaning back in his chair, laughing.

"Do you think he's read it yet?" Caly glanced up at him.

"Probably," Scorpius raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. "What else can he do in this situation?" Scorpius nodded, a sigh escaping his mouth. Rose put her chin into her hand.

"Should we be worried…about these riots?" Caly shrugged. Scorpius shook his head.

"No, it's not about us, per se…you, though, Rose are fine…your Uncle's still a hero after all." Rose bit her lip, swallowing.

"What about you?" Scorpius squared his shoulders, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I think that it would be best for me to not show my face in public for a little while." Rose nodded, and then forced a painfully cheerful grin onto her face.

"Well, that's okay then," she said, "you'll be at Hogwarts and then with us…why do you _need_ to show your face?" Scorpius returned the smile, equally forced and pained, and Caly rolled her eyes and shook her head at their attempts at optimism which were painful to watch.

They went to their lessons in a blue silence. Students were muttering to each other about what they'd read they'd read in _The Prophet_ in the hallways. Some older students pushed Scorpius into the wall and one suit of armour. Al reacted by giving them a half-hearted glare which lacked it intensity because he could hardly keep his eyes open. Rose got angry by the third person and snapped that they were "_not worthy of being a Ravenclaw because they had no brains_". Caly was more interested in getting to Defence on time so she just fixed Scor's robes, put a hand on Rose's shoulder to restrain her and gave Al an orange she'd grabbed when she'd noticed he wasn't eating. He gave her a grateful smile and bit into it with an unusual vigour.

Their Defence Against the Dark Arts class was abuzz with chatter over the news of more riots, and the possibility that _Kingsley Schaklebolt_ could be in danger – he was a war hero and respected throughout the wizarding community for fighting in _both_ wars and restoring the ministry. The Gryffindors around them were concerned about their families safety, but none of them looked at Scor with mistrust or annoyance, which helped to put a genuine smile on the blonde's face as they waited for Harry to arrive.

Harry had this tradition that, on Monday mornings, he would be _at least_ fifteen minutes late. He always arrived with his robes messed up, even though everyone had seen him looking completely neat at the staff table less than half an hour before. Al had explained to everyone that his dad would get out of bed, eat, and then go _back_ to bed because he was exhausted. Rose had then proceeded to explain he was suffering from exhaustion that came from years of fighting evil.

When Harry finally strode into the room – a record of _25_ minutes late – he didn't look like he'd just rolled out of bed, but he did have an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. The class fell into an expectant, hushed, silence as he opened his briefcase and began to distribute their essays on jinxes, commenting on the good and bad points as he went. Caly was relatively please with the _E _she'd received, and Rose and Scor both had _O_s per usual, but Al was staring at the top of his paper where the familiar _O _had been replaced with a _D _and a scrawled "_see me after class_". Caly looked at Rose in concern, who shrugged a little helplessly.

"Right," said Harry, clapping his hands together. "homework was good. There were a lot of solid conclusions to that bit of learning so _keep_ them for revision." he nodded to himself in thought. "Normally, we'd be cracking on with some new things, but I get the impression that people would rather talk about things other than the difference between hexes and jinxes." No one disagreed. "Any questions?" he asked the unusually silent class, and slowly Declan raised his hand.

"Do you think they'll fire Kingsley?" he asked in a brusque manner. Harry seemed to consider how to answer for a long while before sighing.

"I think it's a sad possibility…things look worse each day the Death Eaters spend on the loose, _but_…" he said, dramatically, drawing everyone's absolute attention. "don't just take one person's point of view for it. Just because someone has power doesn't mean they're _right_! So, go research; read old _Prophets_ and trial transcripts and _make up your own mind_!" he let out a long sigh, and stared into their faces, wide eyes and slightly open mouths. "Now, I'm not saying that you should disregard the law or everything you're told…I'm saying _beware the masses_. Don't follow blindly. Don't get swept along in hysteria and mob mentality. Dig around a bit, look beneath something's surface value. Be curious, but not _too_ curious mind." There was an awed silence before Rose put her hand up.

"You planned that speech just now, didn't you? _That's_ why you were so late." Harry gave the class a shifty grin.

"Guilty as charged," he said, holding up a hand. "but, seriously though, kids, think about what I said." The bell rang, and the class leapt to their feet. "Homework is to think for yourself!" he called as people began to hurry out. Al swept his things into his bag and ambled to the front in a vain attempt to not look exhausted.

"You should go," muttered Scor. "we'll wait." Caly nodded and left her two friends standing in the hallway. She hurried to Arithmancy, dodging people who asked her to pass on hate messages, and the teacher that was yelling at Lily, Hugo and Billy. Her path was temporarily blocked by Filch who was attempting to fight a cloud of sparks shaped like Peeves. She was almost accused of the crime by Mrs Norris, but she darted away before the meows attracted the ancient caretaker's full attention.

She dashed into the classroom seconds before she would be deemed late and was surprised to find that Peter wasn't there. Frowning, she pulled out her textbooks and glanced around the classroom in a bemused manner, noting the stillness of her classmates. She looked at Henry Moon, who sat a little bit away from her, and noticed that he was just _staring_ at the empty blackboard with a very intent expression on his normally laughing, taunting, face.

Professor Crasson was busy taking their essays out of his battered looking briefcase, but he, too, seemed to have noticed that there was an unnatural quiet in the classroom. His eyes had the same fixated expression that they'd born when he'd watched the sorting last year. He looked at Caly, and then stared at the empty seat next to her.

"Where's Peter?" he asked, looking directly at Caly. Caly shrugged, looking self-consciously at the empty seat next to her.

"I don't know, sir, we didn't have the same last lesson." Professor Crasson nodded, and then directed his gaze onto the other Hufflepuffs.

"Do any of you know where young Mr Finch-Fletchly is?" There was a moment of sniggering from some of them before Henry spoke up.

"He's in the hospital wing, sir." Caly sat up a little straighter, eyes going wide with shock and worry.

"_What_?" she exclaimed, drawing the entire attention of the class to her. "What happened to him?" Professor Crasson gave her a glare for talking out of line.

"Caly, I'll be doing the questioning, thank you." Caly gave him an apologetic smile and sat back a little in her seat, looking sheepish.

"Sorry, sir." he nodded and turned back to Henry, eyebrows a little raised.

"What happened?" Henry shrugged in an unconcerned manner.

"I don't know, someone just got angry because his dad screwed up and let all the death eaters out." There was a moment in which Professor Crasson caught sight of Caly's fuming expression, and the nods from several other class members, and let out a long sigh. He braced his hands against the desk and leant his body weight onto them, a very serious look upon his face.

"Let's make something very clear, shall we; any sort of bullying is _not_ tolerated at Hogwarts, understand?" There were some well-practised nods. "We tolerate our fellow students and their families, whether they have used their lives for the better or the worse, and we do _not_ judge, especially when we do not understand." He let out another sigh. "None of you were alive when Voldermort was alive, but I was…and _none_ of you can understand the _fear_ that was inspired in our hearts at the mention of dementors…they were the stuff of nightmares, and I – for one – was _very_ glad when I heard that we would no longer be placing our trust in them." He took a long breath in, and stared down all the students.

"Sir," said one of the Slytherins, in a slightly snide tone of voice. "we all know that's crap. _Everyone_ hates the Slytherins because of the reputation, but you don't see anyone stopping that." There was another pause that was weighted by Professor Crasson's even expression.

"You're right, but do the Slytherins ever complain to the staff?" There was a silence. "My point stands; essays." He leapt off the desk, and began to distribute them back. Caly let out a groan when she saw that she'd failed, _again_, and Professor Crasson gave her a long look. "We need to talk," he said, and Caly nodded heavily. "Good."

Caly let the lesson pass over her head, doodling on a piece of paper and waiting for it to be over so that she could talk to Professor Crasson. She didn't know what he was going to say other than the fact that she _sucked_ at Arithmancy, and there was nothing she could say other than that – well, admittedly, recently she hadn't been putting _as much_ effort into it all, but that was understandable, to her at least.

"Caly, you're a bright kid," Caly rolled her eyes inside of her head because any teacher that started a conversation with _that_ statement _never_ went well. "that much can be seen from the way you write your essays," Caly swallowed and nodded, waiting for the "_but_" to come. "but, I don't think you actually _understand_ what you're writing about, would that be right?" Caly nodded; that basically summed it all up succinctly.

"Yes, sir, that sounds…_right_." Professor Crasson nodded, hands in his laps and a kind look on his face.

"I thought so, we need to organise a meeting to talk this over, Caly, because the more we progress the more I feel that you're being left behind, and I don't want anyone failing my class, understand?" Caly nodded.

"Yes, sir, I understand," he smiled at her, a kind expression on his face.

"I know that you must be under a lot of pressure, Caly," he said, kindly. "and if you _do_ need to talk to a member of staff…" he left the offer open-ended, perhaps knowing that she was already trying to think of a polite way to say no because, after all, talking to adults wasn't _really_ a speciality and, if she really needed it, she could talk to Uncle Harry.

"Thank you, sir," she said with a small smile, feeling a little bit surprised and confused by his offer as a confidant. "but I think that I'm okay…" he nodded, the kind smile still on his face.

"Right, off you go to break then."

Caly trudged away, meaning to go down to the courtyard, but pausing halfway down the first flight of stairs. She knew that it was probably best that she went to go see and how Al was doing, and find out what Uncle Harry had said to him, but she wanted to know what had happened to Peter and whether or not he was going to be okay.

She sighed, turning around, and walking straight into JP who had, seemingly, been standing right behind her. She started, a little bemused by his sudden appearance, and took a moment to collect herself.

"Hi, JP," she immediately noted something was wrong with him. He looked too serious for this to be just a general question about something English that he didn't understand. "do you need something?" he nodded, and beckoned him up the stairs, along to a side passage.

"I need to tell you something," he said, voice low, and his French accent blurring together his words. "It ees urgent." he added, as if Caly hadn't already picked up on that fact from his tone of voice and tense posture.

"Okay," she said, giving him a smile. "what is it?"

"It ees Scor," he said, voice getting quieter and quieter all the time, and Caly was beginning to have to strain to hear what was being said. "'e…'e…'eees'avingnightmares!" he blurted out in a rush, and Caly couldn't discern what he'd just said.

"Okay, slow down, why don't you say that in French?" JP shook his head.

"It ees okay…I said that 'e ees 'aving nightmares," Caly blinked. Then she nodded.

"I know," she muttered. "Al told me a little while ago." JP shook his head.

"No, it ees getting _worse_! 'e barely sleeps! Caly you must do zomething! 'e just sits up and watches Al!" Caly sighed, running a hand over her face in a tired gesture.

"Okay, thanks," she turned away, shoulders slumping in ill-concealed defeat. She hurried down the stairs, into the entrance hall, trying to think of a simple way of curing Scorpius of his nightmares, and ran slap bang into the boy in question.

"Caly!" he exclaimed. Then he blinked, looking around. "Where's Peter?" Caly blinked, took a step back, and noticed there was no Fawn.

"Where's Fawn?" Rose sighed, glanced at Al, and then gave her a small smile.

"Hospital wing," she said, sadly. Caly blinked in shock.

"_Hospital wing_? That's where Peter is!" There was a short pause in which they all considered what kind of fight they must have gotten into before dashing away up the stairs, even Al showing more signs of life than he had in a long while.

The staircases were thinning out, and people allowed them to dart through their midst. There was a general feeling of worry radiating from the four students because Fawn was ever so thin and frail looking, and Caly didn't really think that she had a thick skin at all, even if she did try to look out for Peter when Sam couldn't. Still the idea of Fawn looking out for anybody was not a reassuring thing, and Caly was beginning to feel a little guilty for not mentioning her suspicions to Fawn earlier.

"I'm afraid that you simply cannot come in," said Madame Pomfrey, barring the doorway, hands on hips and giving them a fearsome stare that they ought to have been quailing at.

"Please," begged Rose. "just five minutes."

"Absolutely not," came the stout reply. Her face softened at their worried expressions. "They're not conscious," she explained. "and the headmistress doesn't want any visitors until the culprit has been apprehended."

"Do they know who did it?" asked Rose in an excited voice. Madame Pomfrey sighed.

"They say it was a sixth year, a Ravenclaw I believe, whose home was damaged in the riots." Caly huffed, and Rose rolled her eyes.

"What did they do?" asked Scor, eyes narrowed.

"I can't tell you so off you go." With no other choice as Daffy had closed the door behind her, they traipsed away.

"I'm going to the library," said Rose abruptly when they reached that floor, and she just turned and walked away without any further explanation. Al sat down by the top of the stairs, clearly deciding that he didn't want to go any further. Caly caught hold of Scorpius' robe sleeve and pulled him away.

"What?" he demanded, taking in the worry lines creasing her forehead. Caly took a deep breath.

"JP came to me," she said, carefully examining his facial expression. Scor raised an eyebrow, and she sighed. "He's worried about you. He said you haven't been sleeping. That you just sit up and watch Al." Scor looked away.

"I worry about him, Caly," he said, voice quiet and low pitched. "He's wasting away."

"And so are you!" she exclaimed "You need sleep, and I know that you're scared," she added before he could interject. "Anyone would be. What you've been through is enough to give a grown man nightmares, but you _need_ to sleep." Scor tried to shake his head and discount what she'd said, but found he couldn't.

"Caly, please just leave it, alright. I know that you're just trying to help, but just leave it, _please_." Caly sighed, and made to carry on talking when Harry came hurrying towards them, Rose in tow. Al got up when he saw the look on the his dad's face and Scorpius rubbed his eyes and frowned. "What's going on?" he asked, but Harry shook his head.

"Not here," he said, looking around. "come to my office." Caly looked at Rose, who shrugged, her heart beating a little bit faster.

"He just cornered me when I was on my way to the library," she explained as they fell three steps behind Harry.

"He looks pretty bad," commented Scorpius, and Caly raised an eyebrow and shot him a disparaging look. Scorpius shrugged. "Well, he does."

"I can hear you," said Harry, carelessly as Rose opened her mouth to comment, and Rose shut it again, blushing. "Now hurry up, we need to speak quickly before your next lesson." He opened his office door and herded the four of them inside. "Look, keep this between yourselves." he said the moment he'd shut his door. "but Hardingly has been sighted." They all stared at him in shocked surprise.

"_What_?" exclaimed Scor, his spine straightening and looking more alert than previously. "Where?" Harry put his hands up and shook his head.

"Hogsmeade," Scorpius' spine straightened, and Rose caught onto his sleeve. Al's head turned, slowly, to look over at him. Caly shuffled her feet, frowning.

"_Hogsmeade_?" she repeated in disbelief. Why would he come so close and do nothing? Was he scoping the area, looking for a way in? And why had he let himself be seen? Harry nodded, crossing his arms and moving to rest against the desk.

"I know. He was spotted by somebody in Quality Quidditch Supplies, but by the time the aurors arrived he was long gone." There was a pause in which Rose and Caly shared worried frowns, and Al continued to look at Scor's set face.

"What was he doing?" asked Rose, cautiously, rubbing her hands together in a nervous manner.

"Nothing," said Harry, sighing and looking confused. "the shopper said that he was just _standing_ there, in the middle of the street in broad daylight. No disguise, nothing…" Caly stared at him, her disbelief increasing by the second.

"He was just standing in a _street_?" repeated Scorpius, slowly, like he was sure Harry was about to declare it an April Fool's joke. Harry nodded before shaking his head to express his disbelief too.

"I know, I don't understand it…but then again I don't really understand _him_." All eyes swiveled to Caly, who shifted, nervously, at the attention.

"I don't know…" she said, shrugging. "He could be checking out the new security on the castle, seeing how easy it is to move around and such…" Harry nodded as Rose looked at Scorpius with worried eyes. Scor gave her the smallest of smiles in response whilst Al swallowed, looking down at the floor.

"Yes," said Harry. "that seems the most logical suggestion. Either way, he's gone so there's no need to worry, but…I thought it was best to keep you one step ahead of everything." Caly gave him a grateful smile even as Harry rubbed his face, tiredly, and Scorpius prized himself from Rose's ever tightening grip.

"Thanks," Harry shrugged.

"It's not what I want to do, but I think it's better than you briefly catching sight of something in _The Prophet_ and charging off blindly." Rose nodded in agreement, casting the others a pointed look. "Also, there'll be no Hogsmeade trip this weekend – it's been indefinitely postponed." Rose let out a sigh of relief whilst Caly nodded in understanding.

"Good." Harry rubbed his hands together, glancing at the clock.

"You better get off to your next lessons. The news will probably filter out throughout the day so you might want to steer clear of anyone who you think will be angry about no Hogsmeade." There were bleak nods, and Caly found herself hoping that people had the maturity to not get down on them for there being no Hogsmeade trip; it wasn't their fault, and it wasn't a big deal – there would be others.

The four of them took the continued silence as their dismissal and left the classroom without another word. Caly found that her steps were heavy as they made their way down the staircases towards the grounds and Hagrid's hut. Scorpius' posture was clearly tense, and Rose kept looking at him, as if she was afraid that he would suddenly run off to find Hardingly. Al just looked at the floor, putting one foot in front of the other and trusting the others to stop him from walking into anyone else.

"Scor," said Rose, when they'd reached the entrance hall and were making their way through the huge oak doors. "you remember our deal, don't you?" Scorpius did not reply for some time, instead casting his gaze around the grounds and shivering in the autumn chill.

"What of it?" he asked, eventually.

"You will keep it, won't you?" There was a hint of desperation in her voice that echoed the panicked look on her face – the fear that Scorpius would simply take off without them, or without warning Harry. Al looked up, a little bit of interest flickering across his features.

"Of course," he muttered. "I said I wouldn't go off without telling Harry, and I won't go on my own – Caly would never let me." Caly felt herself smile at that whilst Al nodded in understanding, directing his gaze onto the grass beneath their feet. Rose nodded, worry leaving her face as she sighed in relief.

"Good," Scor looked up at her, eyes slightly narrowed.

"Are you insinuating that I don't keep my promises?" he asked in a mock-hurt tone of voice. There was a beat in which Rose looked, scandalised, at him before Scorpius gave her smirk, and the two girls began to laugh, Al letting a small smile ghost across his face.

* * *

Halloween in the castle was a far glummer affair than normal, what with the social unrest happening outside their stone walls, and there was nowhere in which that was more prevalent then in the third year dormitories. With the Hogsmeade trip cancelled the feat seemed nothing more than a mundane tradition, and the select few who had been invited to professor Slughorn's party the following evening were dreading that even more.

To make matters worse for Caly and her friends both Peter and Fawn were to remain in the hospital wing till the weekend was over and – as a result of only one of the suspected _three_ attackers being caught – were not allowed to have visitors. And, if you wanted to make matters even _more_ worse, the riots were continuing – albeit on a smaller scale – and they were being constantly besieged by students and ghosts demanding that they "_reign in_" Lily, Hugo and Billy as they'd been setting off fireworks in the bathrooms, slipping students and teachers alike puking pastilles and other such related sweets, chasing the ghosts with different things to "_assess_" their ability to feel, and just generally wreaking havoc. However, whenever Caly broached the subject with them they would smirk in triumph. Also, it had been noted that a large group of older Slytherins seemed to be hounding them, but any attempt to get them to back off had been ignored, and Lily and the boys had assured them they were fine – though Billy's expression always gave Caly serious cause for doubt.

Now, though, the little trio of trouble – accompanied by a rather nervous looking May – were sat a little way down from them at the Gryffindor table and were still admiring the hall with wide, awe-filled, eyes. Around them the rest of the third years were excitedly guessing what pranks maybe pulled. Looking around, Caly suspected that James had no plans, if his moody expression was anything to go by, but Freddie, Maise, Nick and Kay were a different story as they were sniggering conspiratorially with each other. Al was unenthusiastically picking at his pumpkin pie whilst Scor kept a steady eye on him as he swallowed a chocolate frog. Rose had a book open next to her, but had abandoned it in favour of the horror story that Colin was telling anyone in earshot. Nearly Headless Nick was floating above them, listening to the tale with an unimpressed look on his face and sneaking covert looks at the first years.

Caly, turning her gaze from her friends, glanced up at the high table. McGonagall was deep in discussion with Flitwick and Sprout whilst Uncle Harry, Hagrid and Crasson were listening to something Liann was saying with smiles on their faces. Harry picked up his goblet, eyes scanning the room until they came to rest on her. He frowned when their gazes locked, and his green eyes demanded to know whether she was alright. Caly nodded subtly once, and Harry winked in response, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. Caly watched as he turned back to his old conversation and was met with questioning looks. He tilted his head towards Caly, and three pairs of eyes flickered down onto her. Hagrid raised a giant hand to wave at her, Crasson smile and Liann nodded to herself. Caly forced a tight smile onto her face, gave Hagrid a small, awkward, wave, and then turned back to her table in time to hear Colin shout;

"BANG!" and to see Al jolt, Scor jump and Rose – in sync with a few others – leap out of her seat and shriek. Nick, whose head had slipped slightly when he jerked in surprise, adjusted it and stared disdainfully down as Colin whispered; "…and she awoke three days later and the _whole town_ was…_dead_…" Caly wrinkled her brow and nose in confusion whilst Rose shuddered, Lycan exchanged wide eyed looks, James rolled his eyes and several first years whimpered, one even gagging over their food.

"That," said Nick, straightening up and speaking in a pompous voice. "is the _worst_ Halloween tale I've ever heard in over 500 years of existence." Colin rolled his eyes.

"You jumped," he said, casually, piling ice cream onto his plate.

"Because you shouted. Shouting does _not_ make it scary."

"_Right_…" drawled James, rolling his eyes as everyone began to snigger. "If you're such an expert why don't you tell us one?"

"Challenge accepted," said Nick, puffing out his chest. "Now let me take you back to this night over five centuries ago, when I was but a young ghost. It was a dark and stormy night as dark magic crackled in even the Bloody Baron himself had taken cover…"

"_Duh_!" exclaimed Declan, suddenly breaking in and rolling his eyes. "He's a Slytherin!" Nick huffed in indignation.

"Now, _really_, how am I meant to build atmosphere if you keep breaking in?" Declan shrugged, and then turned away muttering;

"That's not my problem." Nick shook his head and turned back to Colin and James.

"Where was I?" James huffed in annoyance and glared up at him until he began to talk again. "Oh yes, the Bloody Baron had taken cover, and I was intrigued as to what was happening. I could sense the evil in the air and as I moved through the castle I heard noises; whispers, creaks and squeaks, despite the fact that the students were tucked into their dormitories. When I rounded the corner I came to a halt as I heard the screeching of a door…" Caly leant forward, despite herself, and saw that most people around Nick were listening in. "I moved towards it, and I came to a stop and gathered together my Gryffindor nerves and the strength that you gain after having your neck attacked by a blunt axe. I floated through the door and…" Everyone took a deep, expectant breath – with the exception of James – and waited for what was coming.

_BANG_!

A series of explosions went off around the great hall, and people jumped and screamed as the pumpkins floating above them exploded and rained white innards and orange shell down onto the occupants of the hall. Professor McGonagall, who had been directly underneath the largest one, removed her black hat with a look of disgust and flicked the gunk off her shoulder. Scor pulled a face as he gathered together his patience, and Rose rolled her eyes as Al reached up to flick the mess out of his white blonde hair, occasionally pulling at his hair. Caly shook her head, causing the orange skin to go through Nick. James was cracking up, and Freddie and his friends were spread across the table in hysterics. Harry was chuckling to himself, and everyone could hear Hagrid's booming laughter rebounding off the stone walls and floor.

"Fred _Weasley_!" exclaimed Scor loudly. "I will-" his threat was cut off by a high pitched shriek. Everyone spun around to see a small Slytherin girl screaming her head off. Suddenly there was another shout, as everyone watched with wide eyes, as Andrea Pucey leapt from their table, grabbing Nott and using him as a shield. Slughorn was on his feet, wrinkled brown creased up even more and sweat began to dribble down his temples.

"My dears!" he exclaimed as more Slytherins began to shout, point and run away from something that no one else could see. Freddie had fallen off his seat he was laughing so hard, and Nick was wiping away tears of laughter with a marshmallow.

"Get rid of them!" yelled a beefy seventh year in a high pitched voice that caused everyone to dissolve into laughter.

"_Troll_!"

"_Goblin_!"

"_Flee_!"

"_Stupefy_!"

"_Just run_!"

The Slytherins students performed a mass exodus from the great hall, pushing, shoving and shouting about trolls and goblins that only they could see as the rest of the school laughed themselves stupid at their expense. Some of the staff could not contain their own amusement, and Professor McGonagall's mouth was pressed into a tight line of suppressed fury or amusement. People at the Gryffindor table were reaching over to pat the foursome on their shoulders.

Scorpius, wiping his hands on his napkin, was doubled up and shaking his head in amusement. His mouth was upturned in a smile, and he could not hide his amusement. Al's eyes were lit up in such a rare show of genuine happiness that Caly did a double take, but then felt her smile grow impossibly wide as Rose gave in to the inner child within her at last and laughed along with everyone else, still rolling her eyes at their immaturity, but could not deny that it was funny.

* * *

"Please tell me you've changed your mind," Al shook his head and picked up his broomstick. Caly rolled her eyes and pulled her most pleading expression. Al gave her a small smile but shook his head again.

"Sorry, I know that going to Slughorn's is horrible, but…" he broke off, shrugging. "I don't want to be there, and I just…I just want to go to practise." Caly heaved a sigh and looked around for James.

"Well I can't blame you there…have you seen James around?" Al shook his head as Scorpius sauntered over, looking a little better than normal, and slapped him on the back.

"Alright, mate, ready to go?" Al nodded as Rose came hurrying down the stairs, hair messy and tying it back as hastily as she could.

"Sorry, I was reading." she was breathing heavily, and Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"What a surprise," he muttered in a sarcastic tone of voice. Rose shook her head.

"Have fun at Slughorn's." Caly shot her a glare.

"You haven't see James have you?" she asked Rose. Rose shook her head as she around the common room.

"No…Aren't you going to Slughorn's together?" Caly shrugged.

"Yeah, I thought we were, but I haven't spoken to him in a little while…"

"Maybe he took Mindy," suggested Scor with a smirk. Caly rolled her eyes, wondering what Slughorn would say if that was the truth. "Come on," said Scor in an impatient voice. "Stop moping around because your boyfriend is missing." Caly raised a hand to whack him around the back of the head, but he dodged, grabbing Al, and ran towards the portrait hole. Rose, sighing and muttering about their childish behaviour, followed them which left Caly to bring up the rear.

She chased them down the corridor with no real purpose or intent because running meant arriving at Slughorn's quicker, which meant more time that could potentially be used for embarrassment or torture. Still she tailed them all the way to the entrance of Slughorn's office where they'd come to a stop, Scor and Rose grinning at her in an annoying way and Al casting her a sympathetic look.

"Remember to have fun!" said Scor, smirking, and Caly whacked at him, this time landing a hit against his shoulder. Rose chuckled, despite herself, and Al gave his eyes a faint roll.

"You're hilarious," she said, dryly, and Scorpius winked at her.

"My wit knows no bounds." Caly and Rose rolled their eyes as one, shaking their heads whilst Al's face resumed its passive expression.

"I'm sure it doesn't," she said, still shaking her head. "I suppose you better run before Maise kills you – or makes you run laps in the rain." The three of them shuddered as one.

"Try not to murder James, I doubt it will help." said Rose. "I think Slughorn might start likening you to Romeo and Juliet if you did." Caly winced at the thought whilst Scorpius frowned.

"Romeo and Juliet…why is that familiar?" Giving Caly a final wave, the three Quidditch players turned away as Rose replied;

"It's a play by Shakespeare. It's very famous, but Professor Fielding also referenced it once…"

Sighing once more, and wondering what kind of torture Slughorn could possibly subject her too, Caly opened the door to his office. The room – enlarged as always – was decorated with black and orange drapes. Fake cobwebs were hung around the room whilst small pumpkins hovered above the tables of food, their jagged features illuminated by the candles within. Other gaudy decorations; skeletons, coffins, spiders and tombstones, were hung from the walls. The cups were in the shapes of skulls and the pastries were shaped into organs and insects.

"Pretty horrible, isn't it?" Caly turned around and looked up at Harry, who had a goblet in the shape of an elf head. She nodded, her face wrinkling up but glancing around to make sure that Slughorn was out of earshot.

"Yeah…"

"Don't worry," said Harry, also looking around. "Last time I saw Slughorn he was getting drunk with a seventh year who was dressed in a devil costume." Caly raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"I see…You haven't see James, have you?" Harry pulled his face down in thought and glanced around the dark room.

"You know I haven't. I would have thought that he'd be with you after everything that Slughorn's been telling me." He looked down at her, a knowing twinkle in his green eyes and smile on his face.

"Oh…" the rest of the sentence died on her lips because he was now a teacher. Harry's smile got a little bit wider.

"You can tell me to shut up, you know…I promise not to put you in detention, probably." The two of them shared a laugh as Caly glanced around the room again in search of James. "I have to go," said Harry, catching sight of someone who was staring at him. "I think one of the aurors wants to talk to me." Caly nodded and let him walk away. She let out a sigh when she could still not see James – he was the only thing that tended to make things barely with his funny remarks, even if it meant Slughorn bugged the hell out of them – and made her way over to some Ravenclaws who were in her year.

"I hope you're not thinking of going to this party with somebody else?" Caly jumped at the voice in her ear and spun around to see James, smirking, standing behind her.

"_James_!" she exclaimed, huffing in relief and indignation. "Where have you been?"

"Around," he said, still smirking and leaning against a fake headstone. "Where's Al?"

"Quidditch practise," she responded. A disbelieving look appeared on his face until he realised that she was not joking.

"So he's gone to Quidditch _practise_?" There was something sneering in his voice that caused Caly to raise her eyebrows.

"What's up with you?" James shrugged.

"Nothing." Caly raised her eyebrows some more.

"Come on, you've been acting really moody, especially around Al. You do understand the point of us trying to be nice to Al, don't you?" James rolled his hands, sticking his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"Yeah, yeah." Caly sighed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and crossing her arms across her chest.

"James, please just try and be, you know…" James raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Caly sighed, moving towards a table and picking up a goblet of pumpkin juice that was in the shape of a centaur's head. She didn't really want to do this here at Slughorn's, but James did seem to be prepared to talk, not to mention actually being _present_, and so she knew she couldn't pass up the oppertunity to get some answers from him, and force some sense into his head.

"You need to stop ignoring Al, James. He's down in the dumps, and he needs us to get him through this. What with all the stuff that's been going on with Lily, Hugo and Billy…" she trailed off thinking of the amount of trouble that they'd been getting into of late. James huffed again, picking up a pastry worm and biting into it.

"I just think that if Al got out and just manned up a little bit…he's all delicate. Lily is tougher than him." Caly raised an eyebrow.

"You're talking about the guy who can take you down in a fight." James shot her a condescending look.

"You know what I mean…he's all so…" he gestured the pastry worm, which was regrowing itself in a disgusting manner, around in the air as he searched for teh right word. "_emotional_." Caly raised the eyebrow higher.

"And that's a bad thing, why?" James shrugged, moving away in search of a certain kind of pastry that was his favourite.

"I just think that if he toughened his skin up a little bit than he'd be able to take this; I don't _like_ what they're saying about my family, but you don't see me coming to pieces, and you know why that is? Because I _know_ that they're jerks and liars." he shrugged. "If anybody is to blame for Al's condition, it's Al." Caly stared at him, looking disgusted by what James was saying. James turned to look at her when he realised she wasn't walking with him.

"What?" she shook her head.

"How can you talk about him like that?" James shot her a confused look.

"Like what?" he asked, obviously not understanding that he was being horrible mean, or maybe he was just fooling her, Caly wasn't really sure how well she knew James in this second.

"So… _condescending_, like you're so much better than him."

"Well, maybe I am." Caly let out an incredulous snort.

"_What_?" she exclaimed because James was her friend and all, but on no decent planet as he a better person than Al.

"Look, I'm not an attention seeker."

"You're not a- _what_? James that's- that's the- _what_?" She gaped at him, unable to coherently express her feeling of complete indigantion and disbelief that she was experiencing. _James Potter _not an attention seeker? What the hell? What did he calll all his pranks? A lot of people were beginning to turn and look at them.

"That's _what_?"

"_You're_ not an attention seeker! That's a _complete lie_! You're the biggest attention seeker I know!" James stared at her with a look of complete and utter disdain on his face, and Caly could feel anger bubbling away inside of her. She had no idea what had happened, but, suddenly, the James standing before her was completely alien.

"I'm not the one that gets kicks out of people getting worried over them, or who bursts into tears just because they're so insecure." Caly threw the drink into James' face before she could stop herself. James blinked in shock. Caly was surprised at herself too, but only in the sense that she had managed to actually restrain herself from slapping James again.

"What the hell?"

"You know I use to think that we were _similar_!" screamed Caly, and they now had the attention of all of Slughorn's guests. "But now I've realised that _you_ are the _last person_ I would ever want to be like!" The tears were burning her eyes painfully. She had always thought she knew James better than most people, but what Al had said to her last year was coming back to her.

_..."You haven't really seen all sides of James..."..._

It seemed that the more she knew James the futher he went from being her brilliant, chess-playing friend and far closer to the jerk that people had told her he could be, but who she'd never truly _believed_ he was. Not until now.

"What's that meant to mean?"

"It means that you're an arrogant jerk that doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself!"

"Well, what the hell are _you_?"

"I _don't know_, but I sure as _hell_ don't want to be like _you_!" she whirled around, throwing down her glass and storming out of Slughorn's office. There was a long silence in which everyone stared at James. Harry arched his eyebrows at his son, demanding to know why he wasn't chasing after one of his best friends. James looked away from him in anger. James stood there, fuming silently. Then Slughorn began to chuckle, he clapped James on the shoulder before moving away still chuckling. Sally sidled up to him, staring down at him sympathetically.

"Just be thankful she didn't slap you again," and, as James remembered the stinging sensation his cheek, he had to agree with her.

* * *

Caly stormed away, the tears streaming down her face. She didn't know what was wrong with her and James, lately, but she was finding it harder and harder to get along with him, and it was certainly difficult when they were arguing about James' younger brother. Talking to James seemed to be the equivalent of ramming her head against a brick wall; pointless and painful. He _never_ changed. He'd listen, and he _cared_, but he didn't _do_ anything. Worse than that, though, was that he was determined to act like he _didn't_ care about what happened to Al, or what was going on with him. He kept telling her what was wrong, what needed to be done, but he wasn't _helping_.

She sat down, behind a statue on the middle of the fifth floor, and let herself cry some more. This year was turning into a disaster, and it had barely begun. Lily, Hugo and Billy were running a riot around the school, seemingly with the desire to get in as much trouble as possible, Scor wasn't sleeping, Al was a mess, Rose spent all her time in the library, James was being a prat, and Caly didn't know _what to do_ to fix it all. It was scary because the last time they'd all fallen out, it had been _Al_ that had pulled them together, but now Al was the problem.

She sighed and ran a hand over her tear stained face. She took a deep breath and acknowledged that she couldn't go back into Slughorn's party without dying of embarrassment. Also, a very large part of her did not want to face James again, at least not till tomorrow. She wiped her cheeks and sniffed loudly, considering going to the hospital wing to talk to Justin and Fawn, before realising that it was far too late to convince Madame Pomfrey to let her in.

Sighing and getting to her feet, she began the long walk back to the Gryffindor common room alone. The castle was all but empty, most of the students not bothering to stay out late as there was a great feeling of unease within most of the occupants of the castle. The escalation of the riots had made most people certain that _something_ had to happen soon. The tension was the equivalent to water bashing against a flood barrier and, eventually, something would have to give.

The few patrolling adults took one look at her Slughorn invitation before nodding her on. She heard whispers from the portraits; some moaning about the noise that she generated by walking, whilst others commented on the tear tracks down her face. Caly ignored them all, choosing to keep walking, and wondering what Hardingly was doing. There had been no further sightings or news, but Caly felt sure that he had to have been scoping out the area at least. What had he seen though? Was he delaying his attack? Was it all going to end this year?

* * *

"Hey, Rose," Caly flopped down next to her friend in the library. Rose grunted and didn't look up from the paper she was reading. Caly raised an eyebrow, stared at her and then coughed. Rose grunted again. Frowning, and more than a little bemused, Caly took out her Transfiguration textbook and turned to Rose.

"Okay, so here's the thing," she began, not caring that _The Prophet_ seemed to have Rose's attention better than she did. "I understand the _principle_ of what Liann was telling me, but I have _no idea_ how to write it into my own words. Can you help?" Rose nodded, absentmindedly. "Rose?" she said, staring at her friend as she continued to read. "_Rose_!" exclaimed Caly, whacking her with the textbook.

"Ow!" exclaimed Rose, looking up with an annoyed frown. "What was _that_ for?" Caly raised an eyebrow.

"Hello to you too, Rose, you weren't blanking me at all." Rose rolled her eyes.

"I'm a little busy, Caly, I'll help you later." Caly frowned at her friend.

"You're never around "_later_" so can we please do it now." Rose let out a long sigh, staring at her friend with a very patient expression on her face.

"I'm doing research so I'm really not in the mood for talking." Caly continued to stare at Rose, aware that she'd been spending her life in the library but not aware that she'd been "_researching_", Caly had kind of assumed that she'd been _reading_.

"What are you researching?" she asked, and Rose glared at her.

"Not in the mood for talking, Caly." she said pointedly, and Caly huffed out in annoyance.

"Okay, _fine_, I'll come back later."

"No, I'll see you in the common room." Caly rolled her eyes as she got to her feet.

"Whatever." Rose didn't make any acknowledgement that Caly had left, and, wholly irritated by Rose's behaviour, Caly stalked out the library and along the corridor.

What the _heck_ was Rose researching? Caly knew that the Muggle Studies class still had a project to do, but Rose wouldn't need _The Prophet_. Caly shook her head in frustration. Whatever it was it _couldn't_ be as important was _Al_? Al was Rose's cousin! They were _blood_ relatives! Why was everybody that Al was meant to be close to in his family just pretending that this was nothing? She didn't want to get angry at Rose – the last time that had happened Caly had _attacked_ Rose – but she was trying her patience severely. What was Caly meant to _do_?

She turned the problem over in her mind as she traipsed back to the Gryffindor common room, and drew the same conclusion that she was always drawing at the moment; that she could think of _nothing_, and maybe, just maybe, she should take that as a hint to _do_ nothing, except Caly really wasn't very good at doing that. She wasn't one of those people that oozed patience – that was Al's style – and it had taken _years_ for her to control her emotions, but Hogwarts had been such a turbulent ride that they'd all been thrown around into a jumbled heap, and she wasn't really sure that she was on top.

She climbed onto the fifth floor and came to a stop when she saw Lily, Hugo and Billy standing by the portraits, jabbing them with their wands. Her face dropped into a frown as the pictures screamed and ran from them.

"_Hey_!" she exclaimed walking over to them. "What are you doing?" They all looked around. Billy alone looked mildly guilty. Hugo just shrugged, and Lily grinned.

"Miss Hautly!" exclaimed Nearly Headless Nick, appearing out of the wall. "Please accost these youths!" Caly saw that Nick was more distressed than he normally was and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"Leave it to me, Nick." The pompous looking ghost nodded and floated through the wall. Caly turned the group of cousins. "Walk!" she said, and Lily obeyed first, her respect for Caly showing. "So," she began when they'd begun up the next flight of stairs at a leisurely pace. "what did the portraits do to you?" The two boys looked at Lily, who shrugged.

"Nothing, really." Caly frowned at her.

"So, why were you…_poking_ them?" Lily shrugged again.

"We were bored, there wasn't much else to do." Caly looked at Lily as if she was mentally disturbed.

"Poking moving pictures of people – who are likely _dead_ – is your idea of fun?" Lily frowned at her.

"It's _one_ of my ideas of fun, and it's not as messed up as you're making it sound." Caly just shook her head, and gave the Fat Lady the password.

When Caly entered with Lily, Hugo and Billy, Scorpius and James were standing opposite each other in the middle of the common room. The other occupants were staring at them with wide eyes, and Al was conspicuously absent.

"This is _your_ fault!" screamed Scor, and you didn't need to be in Ravenclaw to guess who they were talking about. Caly sent the first years a warning glare that promised painful death if she caught them attacking defenceless portraits again before walking over as James yelled;

"Oh yeah? Well, he was _happy_ until _you_ came along and made us _fight_!" Scor let out a derisive snort whilst Caly tried to push them apart.

"Yeah, he was _real_ happy with you walking over him! He _really_ _loved_ being the butt of all your jokes! Oh wait, he still _is_ you bullying, arrogant, _prick_!"

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Guys stop!" she said, using all of her strength to get them out of each other's faces. She was completely ignored.

"You call Al pathetic but you're worse! You pick on people who are younger than you because you're so _weak_!"

"_Guys_!" she yelled, raising her voice in the faint hope that the runaway train that was Scorpius and James when set off could be slowed down before they hit something that would destroy them. She was once more ignored.

"If you're so tough then you'd know that the only way for Al to get "_better_" is if he sucks it up and _deals_ with it!"

"You don't know the first _thing_ about it you spoiled snob! You got everything on a _silver plate_! Well, guess what, you don't know a _thing_ about _family_!"

"Hey, Al is _my_ brother not _yours_!"

"He _is_, and _I'm_ a better brother than _you_!"

"What did you just say?" Caly was acutely aware that the argument had entered hyper-danger zone, but a large part of her was still angry with James and wanted to let Scor tear into him.

"I said _I'm_ a better brother! I _love_ him and I _take care_ of him, and I'd _die_ for him!"

"Are you saying-"

"I'm saying the only way you'd jump in front of a speeding train for him would be if you pushed him onto the tracks!"

"How _dare_-"

"I _dare_ because I _don't care_ what you think of me even if it matters to Al, and he loves you, but I _don't_! I _hate_ you James Sirius Potter! _I hate you_!" There was a long pause in the common room. All the wind seemed to have been punched from Caly's lungs. Even James looked shocked – his arm frozen in the act of raising his wand. Scorpius whirled around and stormed towards the portrait hole, breaking the spell that had held the common room in utter silence. James lowered his arm, and called out with a smirk on his face;

"I hate you too, and you can call me all the names you want, but let's not pretend that we both don't what you _really_ are." Scorpius froze halfway out of the portrait hole. Caly's chest felt unbearably tight. James wouldn't…would he? He wasn't going to _tell_, right? A self-satisfied smirk distorted James' features. Caly's mind ground to a halt in horror. He was going to _tell_! How could he _consider_ doing that? She tried to restart her mind in time to stop him betraying Scorpius, but it was too late; James already talking. "You're a mur-"

The rest of the word died on his lips. He mouthed desperately, attempting to find his voice. Scor stormed from the tensely silent common room. Caly looked around and saw Freddie on his feet, wand pointing at James. He gave her a terse nod, his pursed lips making him look startlingly different to the boy who had blown up pumpkins a few days before. James glared at him, eyes proclaiming betrayal, but Caly knew that – blood or not – Fred saw that there was a right and a wrong, and that James had happily been dancing into the point of no return. Fred flicked his wand, and the scarlet, humiliated, James stormed from the common room, cursing under his breath and followed, eventually, by Colin and Lycan. The bystanders, who had been watching curiously, turned away, perhaps creating more noise than was necessary, but it didn't mask the sound of someone scurrying back up to the boy's dorms. Caly whipped her head around in time to see the tail of a red dressing gown and a shock of black hair disappear. She closed her eyes in frustration. Al had seen and heard it all; just what she hadn't wanted. Fred moved to her shoulder.

"Please tell me you have some form of plan," Caly shook her head. She was out of ideas, and she was _really_ mad at James.

"I can't believe he nearly told." Fred nodded grimly.

"Unfortunately he got the Weasley temper. There's almost _nothing _he wouldn't say or do when he's angry." Caly nodded.

"I thought I knew him…I _really_ thought I knew him," she said in a sad, quiet, voice, tears pricking her tired eyes.

"You knew the best of him, Caly," he said, hand on her shoulder. "that's never a bad thing. You know the person he _can_ be – sometimes I think you _make_ him that person – and you need to hold onto that." Caly nodded, and then looked up at him.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, and Fred nodded, taking his hand off her shoulder. "Who are you and what have done with Freddie Weasley?" Fred snorted, a smile flickering across his face before dying. He sighed.

"Seriously?" he asked, and she nodded, a little warily. Fred frowned for a second before answering. "Uncle Harry always said I'd mature, eventually, and I never believed him, but then Scor nearly died, and _damn_ all I _really_ knew about him was that he was your friend and that he was good at Quidditch, but it put a lot of things in perspective. That could have been Rose or Al – nearly _was_ – and I sort of felt guilty 'cause I'm your older cousin, and I'm meant to look out for you. I spoke to Vic, and she said she felt the same way. I promised myself then that when I was the oldest I'd look out for everyone, but you four particularly, and then you went missing, and I swear that's what muggle hell must be like. I though Uncle Ron would never talk to me again. This is my last year, and I have to do it right." Caly looked down apologetically.

"Sorry, Freddie." she said in a small voice, and he shook his head.

"It's not your fault, Caly, you were born into this. I know one thing about wand lore, and one thing only, and that's; the wand chooses the wizard – or witch in this case. That wand was meant for you, and you _alone_, Caly. Not either of the Hardinglys; _you_." Caly sighed and nodded, knowing that that was true. "But this year's not your fight." Caly looked back up at him in surprise. "The Death Eaters don't know about you, Caly, and we want to keep it that way. This year's about the war, but you weren't in that, so stay out; you have enough on your plate without dealing with our mess." She glanced at her.

"What you're saying…it's true, I guess, but I'm not just going to leave you guys to deal with it on your own. It should have just been mine and Scor's fight, but Rose and Al won't _not_ get involved." Freddie shrugged.

"Just keep your head _below_ the radar, Caly, for all our sakes." Caly gave him a small smile as he patted her shoulder and moved away. Caly let out a long sigh and dropped down onto a sofa, putting her hands over her face and wondering just how much worse this could possibly get.

* * *

When the next day rolled around, Scor was still in a foul mood, Al was even more silent that normal and Rose was exhausted. Caly had heard her stumble into the bedroom just a little bit after curfew and also knew that she'd been reading into the bathroom for some time after that. Caly had only briefly seen James, but each time he had had a scowl fixed onto his face and been studiously avoiding his family.

Caly had no idea what to say to anyone – explaining what had happened to Rose had left the Weasley with a fierce glare in her eyes and the strong desire to murder James – and she had the feeling that if she didn't say or do something soon then things would not fix themselves. However, what could she say? Nothing could change what James' intent had been. Nothing could change the fact that two of the most important people in Al's life hated each other's guts.

The lessons passed in a long blur where the only highpoint was having Peter back by her side in Arithmancy. He did not seem any the worse for wear, and he was more than happy to listen, with an increasingly sad face, to what had happened yesterday. Thankfully, he did not question what James had been about to say about to Scorpius, but he – too – had no idea of what Caly should say to any of them.

"It's _terrible_," he repeated as they left the classroom, Crasson's glares for their talking lingering on their backs, and began to head down the stairs. "I mean, do you think they _really_ hate each other…or is it just an exaggeration?" Caly shrugged, coming to a stop by the charms classroom as Peter looked around for Fawn.

"I don't know, I think that's part of the problem. The way James said it… It was really calm and cold, but Scor was _screaming_…" she shrugged again. "I have no idea." Peter patted her shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll work it out," he said as he hailed Fawn with his left hand. Fawn trotted over to his side, smiling up at Caly who took in her pale complexion and heavy eyes with a critical eye. She opened her mouth to say something, to ask Fawn to step aside with her, but the bell went. Rolling her eyes but knowing that Slughorn would never punish her, she shouted her goodbyes to them and dashed down to the dungeons.

Slughorn chuckled as she dashed inside late, commenting on her row with James that caused Scorpius to ball his hands into fists around some dried leaves and destroying them. She dropped down into her seat and looked over at Al's work surface with a frown. It had all the ingredients scattered over it, but his cauldron hanging over a flame, completely empty. She heaved a sigh, looked up at the instructions, and began to chop up his roots for him. He blinked at her, and she gave him a small smile.

"You measure out this," she said, handing him the jar of filled with a viscous substance. "enough for both of us." She added, and he nodded, glancing up at the blackboard for the amounts before pulling his scales towards him.

They worked through the lesson, accompanied by Scor's cursing as he struggled to make the potion and Rose's hissing as she kept accidentally letting the various bits of plants fall too near the flames, like that in almost silence. Slughorn seemed to ignore the fact that they were working together – and that Caly was not amending the instructions – in favour of smiling, indulgently, down at them. There were some mutters and jeers from the Slytherins that echoed off the walls of the classroom, but there was nothing more as they knew that their head of house favoured the Gryffindors over them.

After the lesson ended Al threw her a grateful smile that she returned before chucking her things back into her bag and chasing Scor and Rose out of the door. Scor was eating faster than Caly had ever seen anyone eat in her life, and she exchanged a worried, yet bemused, look with Rose who shook her head and tucked into her own food. Al sat by Scor's side, face pulled down into a frown, glancing over at his brother who was hunched over his own meal, dark expression in place.

She was glad to get out of the castle and trudge down to Care of Magical Creatures where Peter, Fawn and Hagrid greeted them with wide smiles. Al sat out of most of the lesson, scratching Fang's ears by the side of Hagrid's hut whilst the rest of the class crowded around the Jobberknolls that Hagrid had brought in for them. They were beautiful, blue-speckled, birds, and they seemed to – possibly because of her connection with Fawkes – have a fondness for Caly. Everyone was fascinated to hear that it let out every noise that it had ever heard backwards, right before it died, though it did result in some people making random noises to add to their collection.

"You got a natural touch," said Hagrid as one of the Jobberkolls perched atop her head and another had nestled itself against her neck. Caly smiled up at him as he looked down at her with wrinkled eyes.

"Thanks, maybe they know about Fawkes…" Hagrid nodded, casting his eyes around the boys who were throwing the birds insects for them to catch in their mouths.

"Yeah, maybe, but I reckon they got ya gentle nature. Animals have special senses like that." Caly nodded as Scorpius warily touched the one on her head. "It keeps 'em calm, but you ain't never gonna have a problem with that." Caly frowned at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, curiously. Hagrid shot her a knowing smile.

"Ya got your guitar – music calms down all animals."

"Like, um…Fluffy, right?" said Rose, breaking in suddenly. Hagrid's smile grew even wider, and he nodded.

"Yeah, like Fluffy…but it works on most of 'em, you know." Scorpius, Peter, Fawn and Al were all listening in curiously now. "Not singing 'cause some of 'em don't like human voices, but your guitar would probably go down nicely." Caly nodded, carefully lifting the one of her head and threw it, gently, into the air and let it fly over to Al, who blinked in surprise before smiling as it came to rest on his knee. Hagrid smiled again and then glanced up at the sky which was clouding over – obscuring the sun – and was threatening rain any time soon.

"This is a peaceful lesson," said Peter, stretching out on his front on the grass as Hagrid moved away to collect the birds. Fawn "hmmed" in agreement, and Scor ran a hand through his hair, looking over at the Hufflepuff's.

"Yeah, when the Hufflepuff's – the other ones – stay away it's pretty good." Hagrid came over with the cage, and Caly lifted the sleeping Jobberkoll from her shoulder and placed it on the bottom of the cage, standing up and stretching as Al put the one he'd been petting away.

"Homework's t' read ya textbooks. Jus' make sure you know it all." There were happy nods at the light load of work and made their way, gladly, towards the castle. They fell into easy chatter about homework and lessons, no one touching any of the heavier topics, and even Al seemed relaxed as he ambled along by Scorpius' side whilst Caly attempted to explain the difference between tubes and trains.

"I'm going to the–"

"Library," said Scor and Caly as one the moment they'd set foot in the Entrance Hall. Fawn and Peter laughed whilst Rose rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I'll see you at dinner." She dashed towards the staircase and began to hurry away as Caly watched her go with a frown.

"We'll see you tomorrow," said Peter, waving and glancing around to make sure that he would not be walking past McMillan and Smith.

"Yeah," said Scor, raising a hand vaguely. "see you." The moment they were out of earshot Scor began to talk again. "Do you know what she's doing, in the library?" Caly shook her head.

"No, she said she was researching, but I have no idea what." Scor scowled and said nothing in reply so the three of them were forced to walk all the way back to the Gryffindor common room in silence. When they got there they simply pulled out their books and began working, ignoring the curious looks that they were being thrown by other members of their house.

Scor kept down and his mouth shut, and Al did the same. Caly, because she was never going to get anything out of either of them, followed suit, sneaking peaks of Scor's essay over his shoulder for their Transfiguration homework until it was time for dinner. Scor threw his books into a heap and got to his feet, whole body tense as Roxie and Jay watched him from over the top of their _Guide to Ordinary Wizarding Levels_ textbooks, and stormed from the common room.

Rose failed to join them in the great hall for dinner, but that was not entirely surprising to any of them. Al pushed his food around his plate in an absent-minded manner whilst Scor took meagre bites, choosing to glare at the side of James' shaggy brown head as he ate whilst Colin and Lycan chattered around him in favour of eating. Caly ate, if only to stop the silence becoming too much, and watched her two friends who did not seem capable of even _attempting_ small talk. Freddie made to sit down with them when he came into the hall, but Scor's glare had been enough to put him off – he looked rather miffed, and Caly just shrugged in a tired manner.

When they had finished dinner not that long later, they made their way into the entrance hall to be met with Molly, a frown on her face, standing at the bottom of the marble staircase.

"What is it?" asked Caly, picking up on her nervous demeanour as her eyes flitted between the two boys. "Is there news on Ally?" Molly shook her head, looking saddened at the mention of her missing best friend.

"No, not that I know of, but Uncle Harry came into the Hufflepuff common room…he said that we needed to meet in his office. He said he'd gone to get Dom, do you know where Freddie, Roxie, James, Rose and Lily, Hugo and Billy are?"

"No idea about Lily and co, but Freddie and James are in there," she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder towards the hall that was filled with chattering students and the sound of clinking dinnerware. "and Rose's in the library…and we last saw Roxie in the common room." Molly nodded.

"Okay, well, why don't you go up, and I'll get the boys." There was a pause before Al reached out and caught her arm.

"Molls," he said, frowning in a worried manner; black eyebrows bunching together and green eyes sparking with alarm. "what's going on?" Molly shook her head, reaching down to squeeze her cousin's hand.

"I don't know, Uncle Harry wouldn't-" she broke off, eyeing a group of Slytherins that were making their way towards the dungeons. "-he wouldn't say…" she shrugged and let go off his hand. "Just go up to his office." Scor let out an audible sigh, but the three of them turned, obediently, and began to climb the stairs – heading towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom instead of their common room.

They moved in silence, as they seemed to be doing a lot today, but there was a degree of tension between them that had not been there before. When they were climbing up towards the second floor, there was the sound of clattering feet and someone calling "_wait_", and they turned around to see Molly with Freddie and James trailing them, their friends a little bit further behind.

Scorpius turned away the moment that he made eye contact with James, and Caly saw James look, pointedly, in the opposite direction. Freddie rolled his eyes, but struck up conversation with Colin about the ease of breaking into McGonagall's office these days after she'd updated her security. The pranksters – with the exception of James – became deeply engrossed in conversation very quickly, and Molly shook her head in a disapproving manner but didn't disrupt them because it was better than the horrible silence that reminded them of what had happened between James and Scor.

The moment they got to Harry's office, their friends departed, still talking about the benefits of casting charms on the portraits when attempting to set up a prank, whilst Molly pushed the door open and led the silent group into the empty office. Freddie waved his wand in a careless fashion, causing the candles to light. He pulled out a chair and swung his feet up so that they were resting on the table and put his hands, fingers interlocked, in his lap.

"So…" he said, looking around. "anyone got any ideas?"

"I hope they've found something out about where Ally, Frank and the others are," said Molly, also taking a seat but not adopting the relaxed posture of Fred.

"Unlikely," broke in Scor, shaking his head. "if that was the case then I'm sure that Harry would be looking for all their friends not just us…I think it's something to do with our- _your_ family." There was heavy pause after that, broken by the door opening and Lily, Hugo, Billy and Roxie coming in. Roxie came to perch on the desk by her brother's feet and the other three jumped on the desks in the row behind.

"Scor, look-"

"Where's Rose?" asked Harry, coming into his office with a frowning Dom, face even graver than usual and unable to hide some of the worry in his eyes.

"Library," said Scor, twisting round to look him straight in the eye. "What's going on?" Harry shook his head.

"No, Rose needs to be here. I'll go grab her." Hugo looked up in worry as the others shared significant looks.

"Has something happened to mum?" he demanded, eyes darting around the group as if some of the others could provide answers. Harry ruffled up his hair looking more stressed, not affirming or denying the question.

"I'll tell you the moment we get Rose here," he said, eventually, which said more than any direct words could. Hugo leapt off the desk, eyes wide.

"What's _happened_?" he demanded, and Harry opened his mouth, taking a step forward with his hands held upright in front of him, to placate his nephew.

"Look, I'm not going to lie something _has_ happened to your mum, but Rose has a right to know so just give me five minutes to go find her." Hugo looked around in wild horror as the others straightened up. Caly felt fear flood through her as she glanced around and saw the worried, apprehensive, expressions on most of the other faces. Before anything more could be said, though, the door banged open.

Rose came bursting in. Her bushy hair was wild – no doubt from Rose running her hand through it as she read, it was a habit that she had when she was stressed and/or fixated – but her eyes were shining with something that looked like _victory_. She was clutching a small, black, notebook in one hand and one of Scor's biros in the other. Her face was spread into a smile as she panted, face red from uncontrollable emotion and exertion.

"Guys, I-"she broke off, smile slipping as she noticed the tense atmosphere. "What's happened? What's wrong?" Harry moved over, guiding her out of the doorway and shutting the door behind her. He faced down the group of students with a serious expression.

"Today, at four thirty-five pm, Hermione Weasley was arrested and brought before the Wizengemot. Two hours later she was found guilty for the unlawful and unethical firing of employees of the Department of Magical law and sentenced to three months in Azkaban."


End file.
